Be Aware and Prepare

Jordyn Fisher

11/20/20 Driver Education Scholarship

Be Aware and Prepare

Every teenager goes through the big milestone of learning how to drive a car for the first time. Getting your permit at 16 is one of the most exciting things for someone that age. Thinking about all the freedoms that driving a car can bring is one of the biggest motivations for teenagers trying to obtain a license. I think what we all look over a little too easily while learning how to drive, are all the possible dangers that come with being a driver, especially in the modern world of technology. There are six billion mobile phone users and a billion vehicles interacting on the roads every single day. The NHTSA states that distracted driving is the number one cause of accidents, making it a deadly epidemic. These days cars come equipped with hundreds of different distractions built right in, oftentimes right onto the dashboard of the vehicle. Equipment such as touch screens on the driving console, aux cords to sync music from your phone, GPS systems and more, all cause distractions while we drive, even when invented with the intent to decrease distractions and the amount of time the driver takes his eyes off the road. Driving statistics highly indicate that something really needs to be done about the issue of distracted driving, as well as the issue of driving under the influence.

I believe that driver education is an especially important step taken to inform drivers and future drivers about the many dangers of distracted driving and driving under the influence. When I was in high school, I took an optional driver education course before obtaining my license. This course included practicing driving with an instructor as well as classroom time to learn about all things driving. In the class our teacher often displayed videos and told stories about the dangers of driving under the influence as well as distracted driving. If it were not for the driver education course, I am not sure I would have the same perspective about driving as I do now. Hearing stories about car accidents resulting from texting and driving made me never want to text and drive, let alone take my eyes off the road for even a second. The videos we watched about the devastation drinking and driving can cause was more than enough for me to never want to think for a second that it is safe for me to drive after consuming alcohol. I noticed a few of my friends who hadn’t taken the driver’s education course were much more likely to text while driving, as they were not fully educated about the risks that texting and driving can cause them and others. Driver education taught me not to be a selfish driver. I recognize that while I drive, each car around me contains a life or multiple lives that want to get to their destination safely, just as I do. If I were to drink or text while driving, I would be putting myself, my passengers, and other drivers and passengers on the road at risk for serious injuries or death if I were to cause an accident. I am extremely glad I was able to take the driver education course as I recognize this was a particularly important education I received. I get into my car every single day, like many others, but driver education is one of the reasons why I put my phone out of reach and to ensure I have no other distractions around me. I drive with my full attention because I was informed about the possible risks if I did not.

I hope that one day, each state makes taking a driver education course mandatory for anyone trying to obtain a license. I think taking a driver safety course in high school is a better way to educate young drivers about driving risks, before they have any experience driving a car at all. I think it is important to learn about safe driving before gaining experience because it will make you think twice before participating in any risky behavior while driving. Oftentimes when I ask people to please stop texting while they are driving, the response I receive is something like “don’t worry I do this all the time.” These people have most likely been texting while driving ever since they learned how to drive, now practicing unsafe driving for years makes it more difficult for them to stop. It is better to educate young teenagers about the risks of texting and drinking while driving so that they are not even tempted to try it. I think many of us fall into the temptation to answer our phones while driving when we hear them go off, we should be taught that our phones need to be turned off and should go into the back seat, or entirely out of our reach while driving so that we can’t even be tempted to try and text. If it is an absolute emergency, simply just wait until you can safely pull before checking your phone. No text message, no song change, and no phone call are ever going to be worth the expense of a new car or worse, someone else’s life. My senior year of high school, it was mandatory to go on a field trip to be educated about the dangers of drunk driving. On this day we watched videos about what can happen if you drive after just a few drinks. Your judgement becomes impaired and it makes driving a much more dangerous task, putting yourself and others at risk. The penalties for drinking and driving are never worth the simple phone call it would take to call up a friend or a ride share, such as, Uber. I believe driver safety education is one big key to decrease the amount of deaths related to distracted driving.

Unfortunately, I experienced my first serious car accident just a few months ago. It was a normal summer day in August and as they always say, it was just like every other day, until I was in the back of an ambulance being taken to our local trauma hospital after an irresponsible driver rear ended me going about 50mph. It was around 5:55pm and I was on my way to my boyfriend’s house. I got a call from him that he was home from work, and he had just ordered pizza for us to have for dinner. That night I had planned to drive to my boyfriends the same way I did nearly every day, we were going to relax, eat dinner, and then go for a swim in his pool. My plans for the night changed within an instant when a man decided to pick up his phone and text while driving instead of paying attention to the road. Instead I spent the entire night at the hospital writhing in pain from the accident, just like I would for next few days. The accident happened at about 6:00pm. I made it only 3 minutes down the road from my house before I was hit. I was stopped at an intersection waiting to make a left turn when I noticed a large black vehicle barreling towards me in my rear-view mirror. I froze completely with fear. I had no Idea how I was going to avoid this accident and I knew he was not planning on stopping. The next thing I know I hear a brief but loud tire screech and then the awful sound of bending metal and broken glass. I immediately recognized how much pain I was in. I sat in my car trying to recuperate for a few minutes before getting out to assess the damage. During this time, a woman pulled up in her car next to mine and asked if I was okay then told me I needed to call the police immediately. I got out of my car and notified the police that I had just been in an accident and then I stumbled to the back of my car to discover that my trunk and back bumper were entirely caved in. My car was totaled. I looked over to the car that hit me, and I noticed the airbags went off and there was significant damage to the front bumper and windshield, no doubt that his car was totaled too. I immediately panicked because I thought the driver that hit me had died upon impact. It had been several minutes since I was hit and there was no sign of the other diver, but a rescue vehicle had already gotten to the scene of the accident. Frantically and through tears, asked them if the other driver was okay. To my surprise a man who I had initially thought was just a witness spoke up after taking a drag of his cigarette to say, “yeah I’m fine.” I was shocked to not only see that he was alive, but to see that he was completely uninjured. At this point I was frustrated that the man who hit me did not care enough to come up to me and ask if I was okay, because I clearly had been injured. I spent about 15 minutes waiting for my ambulance to arrive answering questions the police and rescue workers had. I was then put in a neck brace and loaded into the ambulance where I would be further treated at the hospital for the remainder of the night. While in the waiting room at the hospital, my family informed me that there was a witness to my accident who informed the police that they saw the driver who hit me texting on his phone before the impact. The police also notified my family that the man was driving with a suspended license. I walked away from the car accident alive and for that I am so grateful, but I do suffer from my injuries to this day. I was diagnosed with a severe concussion and spent the rest of August completely bed ridden. I had to leave a job that had just hired me because the extent of my injuries made it difficult for me to stand for more than an hour at a time. I was most comfortable laying down in a dark room, which resulted in a deep depression. Doing schoolwork is now an even bigger task because of the pain I experience even months later while looking at bright screens and sitting up for long periods of time. I still suffer from frequent migraines as well as back neck and shoulder pain from the whip lash. As well as my physical suffering, came emotional hardships. I did not understand why someone like me who never even thought to text while driving was at the brunt end of someone’s poor decision to text while driving. The driver that hit me that day was selfish, when he picked up his phone to answer his text, he was only thinking of himself and not the risks he was putting other drivers on the road at. I hope this experience causes him to think twice before texting and driving if he is ever allowed to have his license back.

There are many steps that I take to ensure that I am being a safe driver every time I get into my car. First and foremost, I always put on my seatbelt and I encourage all my passengers to wear theirs as well, regardless of if they are sitting in the back seat or not. A simple click can save your life and your passengers’ lives. I make sure that my phone is turned off and out of my reach while I am driving so that I am not tempted to answer it. If I am on my way to someone’s house, I text them to inform them that I am on my way before I start driving. I choose what music I want to listen to before I pull away, so that I am not distracted fidgeting with the aux cord while my eyes are supposed to be on the road. When I need to use GPS while driving, I make sure that it is set up and ready to go before I begin driving to my destination. I also give the directions a brief overview to get a sense of where I am going before I start driving there. There are steps I take to be a safe passenger as well. If someone I am driving with begins texting while driving, I inform them that their actions are making me feel unsafe and uncomfortable. I try to focus on the road as a passenger as well because sometimes I can catch something that the driver did not. I try not to engage in distracting conversation and I never touch someone else’s radio or console while they are driving as this can distract them too. There are many ways to practice and engage in safe driving and I encourage everyone that not only gets behind the wheel but gets into a passenger seat as well to practice safe driving as it can save lives.

Being a safe driver is important not only for your own safety and wellbeing but for the safety and wellbeing of every other human life on the road around you. Texting and driving puts your life and many others at risk every time. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving is selfish and puts your life and others at risk as well. Do not be afraid to make a call to a friend or family member if you feel as though you are not able to drive a vehicle. Your friends and family care about your life more and they just want to make sure you get home safely. It is okay to make your friends wait for a text back, your life matters much more than the text that you think is important enough to risk lives for. Most importantly, do not be a selfish driver. Educate yourself on the dangers of distracted driving and driving under the influence. Too many people die each year due to selfish drivers and it is not fair to the friends and families that must bury their loved ones because of someone else’s unsafe actions. Recognize that no matter what, driving can be dangerous so please do everything you can to make sure you, and everyone on the road around you gets to their destinations as safely as possible.