Expanding Drivers Education Can Save Lives

Expanding Drivers Education to Save Lives

All four windows down, my blonde hair blowing widely in the wind. I absolutely love driving, and at the ripe old age of 17, I feel that I’m really good at it. But I also know that I am driving a 5,000-pound potential weapon.

I’m going to be real and say that I did not look up statistics regarding how many deaths occur each year as a result of car accidents. I know the number is astronomical, and sad.

Driving education needs to include watching a video showing how test dummies are injured due to not wearing a seat belt, actual pictures of vehicles that have been mangled beyond recognition due to the driver texting while driving, and interviews from individuals who are incarcerated for killing others on the road while driving impaired. Interviews with teens who suffered a severe permanent injury due to reckless driving may resonate with other teens, and interviews with parents who have lost their teen to a car accident should be included in the informational video. The video should be an hour in length; any less would not make an impact. New drivers getting an initial license, as well as those drivers who need to reinstate their license after losing it, should be required to watch the video. An exam should be administered after the video so individuals have to pay attention to it.

So let’s talk about Tucker (real name by the way). Tucker is also 17. He was in several honor societies, he was a junior Olympic runner, was in theatre, extremely good looking but, more importantly, extremely nice and well liked at school.

On a starry filled night the summer when we were 15, we were sitting in the back of a pickup truck. We were talking, laughing, chillin’ on that gorgeous night. The driver of the truck, age 16, decided it would be funny to accelerate quickly. The jolt of the vehicle launched Tucker out of the truck bed and on to the street. I was lucky enough to not be ejected.

Tucker was rushed to the ER. He suffered a brain injury and remained in the hospital for several weeks. Upon his release he could not attend school that fall. He had a tutor come to his home for a few hours each week. Third quarter he had recovered enough to return to school, but was allowed extended time for all testing, as his processing ability was still affected.

Tucker is now running competitively again, but his academic ability has not returned to pre-accident status. In one instant, his life took a dramatic, painful turn for the worse. It could have been me that flew out of that truck just as easily.

I tell my friends about this accident so none of them make the same reckless teenage decision. Whenever my friends drive over the speed limit, I remind them that we aren’t the only drivers on the road. I try and be the voice of reason. I feel that I have an obligation to spread the story to hopefully impact other new teen drivers.