In The Driver’s Seat

Carolina Senhorini Seixas

In The Driver’s Seat

Relax. Take a seat! How nice it is to hear these words when we face unnerving circumstances. We do feel more at ease when welcomed to an exam, an interview or to our boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s house with these kind and understanding words. So much is said in these four words. They are then appreciated and helpful. However, as much as we might, at first, think it would be nice to hear these same four words when taking the driver’s seat, so much more is at stake on the driver’s seat, that I dare say the proper words should then be: Take a seat! Focus! 

As intimidating as these words may sound, contrary to the much more friendly and desired ‘Relax. Take a seat’,  the latter are the words that resonate with the importance of the role one plays while in the driver’s seat. You are in charge and will be responsible for all your actions while in the driver’s seat. For that alone this seat should never be about ‘relaxing and taking a seat’. If you happen to make a mistake, it might result in tragedy. It is not an exam you can make up for with another one, or an interview you can retake, or about embarrassing a boyfriend or girlfriend. It is about lives… yours and others’. Guess what then? Take a seat! Focus! Always! Each and every time… from the very first time and for the rest of your days as a driver.

Enrolling in a qualified driver’s education course is the first step to ensure everyone stays safe while out on the road. And just like you never enroll for any other course without checking its credentials, make sure to apply the same rule of thumb to driver’s education courses. Do your homework and find one that will not only teach you enough to pass the licensing exam. Keep in mind that lives are at stake if you ever fail a lesson while driving, no matter how long you will have been driving for. There is no room for mistakes in this seat. Therefore, find a course that will teach you how to safely operate a vehicle on busy roads, at night, and during other dangerous driving circumstances. Learn about traffic signals. Practice entering and exiting traffic, using turn lanes, changing lanes, adjusting your speed when necessary, and, most importantly, use your classes to develop the ability to foresee unsafe situations. One cannot only drive his own vehicle. Once out on the road in the driver’s seat, your eyes and mind must be in total control of your vehicle, but also able to identify potential dangers from other drivers in time to react appropriately. You have to be equipped with the knowledge necessary to handle emergency situations in order to drive safely. Oftentimes, other drivers and conditions are more dangerous than your own driving. So, once you take the driver’s seat, focus!

Interestingly, driver’s license renewals take for granted all the safety concerns and are merely a documentation recheck. You show up with the required documents, pass a vision test, and you are all done. You are allowed to go back on the road without anyone checking how well you can drive at that point in your life. Considering the dangers and responsibilities of driving, it would make much more sense to have driving skills retested upon every renewal of the license. One might not have driven for a long time or have acquired bad driving habits. DMVs should aim at constantly educating the driving population as a means to lessen accidents and reduce the number of deaths. A driver´s license test should not be a one and done deal. The concern of having to pass frequent driving tests throughout our lives would alone raise more self-awareness and as a result it would probably force most of us to review our driving abilities at every license renewal. 

According to the Associated Press “traffic deaths rose 8% in 2020, even as Americans drove fewer miles during the pandemic”. This is unacceptable news and we should all be alarmed to read it, and consequently demand action from authorities. The fact that less traffic on the roads resulted in more deaths, clearly reinforces the need for a change in the system as is. There is certainly more that needs to be done other than simply requiring driving tests for drivers to renew their licenses. Enforcing speed limits with radars on the roads might also be effective in slowing down speeders since a lot of people only give attention to what costs them money. Fines and higher insurance rates will probably make a number of people think twice, despite the fact that a headline like the above should be enough to cause people to slow down. 

 

It is unfortunate that too many of us will only take driving as seriously as it is once we personally relate to a traffic tragedy. I have grown witnessing the suffering of my family due to the loss of an uncle I would have had, if not for a car accident that took his life when he was only 33 years old, two years before I was born. The pain is so immense that even though it took place before my birth, it still affects me. I feel the pain of the loss in my mother’s family. The saying ‘No pain, no gain’ has no place in stories like this. There is no gain in such pain. There is only the eternal loss of a family member. 

Do your part to prevent unnecessary pain. Focus on life and love every time you take the driver’s seat! I am sure you can make a difference. We all can. No need for pain. We can all just gain.