Better Access to Drivers Education

So many people lose their loved ones, so many people have to go through heartbreak and tragedy, an experience that no one should ever have to go through. When I was a young child, maybe 9 or 10, I remember my mother driving down a street my family had been driving down for years. We took that road at least once a week and it had seemed so safe and so normal until we got in our accident. I recall laying across the back seat of the minivan when all of a sudden the car behind us made contact. I went rolling forward and hit my head and was left covered in bruises and ever since I have worn my seatbelt every time I get in the car. The man who hit us got scared and put his car in reverse, hit the car behind him, put his car in drive, hit us again, and continued this process until he was helped. I will never forget the feeling of fear in my stomach, my younger brother and sister crying and screaming in fear, my mother terrified as my father hopped out of the car to put the man’s car in park. That road will forever look different to me. I will always feel that pit in my stomach every time I drive on that street.

When I was about 13 I was sitting in my grandparent’s loft when all of a sudden my grandmother runs in and says “Watch the kids, your mother was in an accident, we will be back.” Those words are forever burned into my memory. She left me alone and scared not knowing if it was a small incident or if her car was totaled. An hour later I was sent a picture of my mother’s car, destroyed, and her being loaded into an ambulance with a thumbs up and a smile and that was my grandma’s way of saying she was okay. Two years later, my uncle was charged with a DUI and we used a decent amount of what we saved as my college funds to bail him out and pay for the lawyers. My life has been impacted by so many car accidents and I have made it a point to try and be as safe as humanly possible when it comes to being behind the wheel.

I think that it is really important that teenagers have better access to the right kind of drivers education. Some schools have it built into their Physical Education curriculum but others have to send their students elsewhere to learn and pay hundreds of dollars to do what students are getting with their education. I think that Drivers Education should be worked into curriculums everywhere in every single private and public school so that students can be better educated.

After everything I have been through and all that I have watched my friends go through, I make it my mission to be the safest driver I can be. I work to hold my friends to higher standards when I am in the car and encourage them to drive the same way when I am not in the car. Every time a passenger gets into my car I refuse to put it into drive until everyone has their seatbelts on and if I have even a small doubt about my driving abilities or anyone else’s I refuse to get in the car. I think that easier access to the proper education and maybe even starting learning at a young age can go a long way.