Name: Aracely Orozco
From: Hayward, California
Votes: 0
I was fifteen years old when my dad
and I drove to the store to buy some supplies and noticed the empty
Kmart parking lot, to which my dad asked, “Hey, wanna practice
driving in the van for a bit?”
“Why
yes, yes I would,” I replied with a smirk on my face, mentally
practicing what I would brag to my mom when we got home.
Granted, this wasn’t my first
time practicing, but it was an impactful one (and no, not the
crashing kind). Of course, this time driving in my parent’s van was
much better than the last, and my dad acknowledged that. Too soon for
my taste; he convinced me to merge ourselves to the road itself.
Again not my first time, but regardless, it’s always intimidating
being next to other moving vehicles. Yet this time, I knew not to let
my nerves get the better of me since my focus needed to be on the
road. The second we got home my dad told my mom that I, out of all of
their children was the most confident
on the road. I was not
only safe, like the three predecessors before me, but I was ‘mellow
on the road’ as said by my dad. He said that this was good, and he
was proud.
I was ecstatic. I was getting
better! Things just couldn’t stop getting better! Then, the
nightmares began.
When I realized I was getting
older, and closer to getting my license the thought of eventually
being in a car alone frightened me. I began having nightmares of
driving in places I don’t know, where the signs and
rules-of-the-road for some reason didn’t apply, or having my brakes
taken out and panicking that the car isn’t stopping… it felt so
real that I eventually grew fearful of cars and lost my confidence.
Despite being a safe driver, I knew there were others who weren’t.
This had me thinking, even though young drivers may have the
knowledge and experience of driving, conventional mistakes on the
road like texting and driving or running a stop sign aren’t the
only factors to accidents. If a driver is not confident on the road,
then they are more prone to making mistakes from fear than from just
plain ignorance.
It’s important to teach young
driver’s proper driving etiquette,
but I think letting a driver gain confidence in themselves should at
least be second priority. It should be made clear at an early stage
of driving that second guessing can be very dangerous when on the
road. It’s also important to let young drivers have a growth
mindset and believe in themselves, instead a fixed mindset that
prevents them learning from their mistakes; positive reinforcement by
complimenting and rewarding them while they make the correct maneuver
in real time is key. To gain more of their confidence, experienced
drivers should still be in the passenger seat even after gaining a
driver’s license
to reassure their decisions on the road.
