The Driver Behind the Driver

The Driver Behind the Driver

The first time I got behind the wheel it was immediate. From the moment I got in the car and sitting it was a blur. My hands were sweaty, my leg trembling and eyes wide as a hound. I never felt that unsure in my life. It was not fear but a sense of uncertainly coursed my veins. The driver behind the driver is the instructor, teacher, friend, parent mentoring. The drivers that people become are shaped by those that guide our hands on the wheel. Safe and cautious people teach to shape safe and cautious drivers. It starts with the instructor to be more than present and telling students what to do.

The moment I turned the key my hands were shaking and breathing heavy. My instructor looked at me and said “are you alright, Tony”? “I am a bit nervous”, I mustered. With a calming and reassuring look, my instructor Nasim told me to slowly shift into gear and while putting my right foot on the brake and slowly release. Once I felt the car rolling down the driveway, I slammed the break. It was so abrupt but Nasim was unphased and said, “now you know how it feels”. He guided my first day driving with patience and confidence. Whenever I made a mistake, he allowed me to correct it and watched every action I did. Every time I drove, I gained more confidence and Nasim brought out my driving capabilities. However, he wasn’t an ordinary driving instructor, he wanted me to succeed and pass my G1 road test. He took me on multiple routes of possible examination paths and ran many scenarios. He gathered other students and allowed me to experience the driving responsibility of carrying more than one passenger. Whenever I felt uncomfortable to make a left turn, he enabled me to decide as a safe driver. He didn’t tell me to go or turn now but brought out my intuition and said, “when you see no cars or after your blind spot is clear, proceed”. This forced me to think and act as a safe driver and not take the easy way out while learning. I was more in tune with activating my peripheral vision and measuring my speed and the cars going by. Its instructors like him that build driver confidence and independence that shape students to make those decisions. Ultimately, young drivers learn by doing and not by telling.

Driving is something my father always excels at. He has never been in an accident and has avoided collisions in icy road conditions. He taught me one aspect of driving education that tradition schooling does not teach. It is the spilt decisions, evasive maneuvering, and driving under different conditions. My father helped me realized that in normal road conditions not every drive at the 60-mph limit. Most drive faster and some drivers cut people off. Therefore, He taught me to always expect the unexpected. He taught me this by taking me to downtown Toronto. I saw the hecticness and saw how he maneuvered through the traffic and ongoing people. Slowly he brought me into those environments by starting in the suburbs and slowly entering high-density traffic areas. This taught me to adapt to different traffic patterns and pedestrians. Moreover, my father rented out different vehicles for me to drive. My first time in a truck felt different in every way. The gas was more powerful, and the height changed my entire field of vision. However, the experience helped me become a dynamic driver. Lastly, during the winter my father taught me to drive in icy conditions. “Always slow because there could be black ice”, he would always say. He also took me to drive on different terrains and I experienced the steep hills and the different amount of pressure applied to the gas. All these aspects were never covered in my training with my former instructor. I learned that driving is not clear cut. It takes years of experience and conditions will always change, whether it’s the vehicle, weather, or environment.

Lastly, my friends have shaped me into the driver today. I rode in cars driven by all sorts of friends and I have learned that some are reckless. Looking cool with one hand on the wheel comprises control. My best friends have influenced me to drive with both hands on the wheel, avoid texting and driving. I remember my friend Alex always looked both ways and stopped fully at a stop sign regardless if cars were present. He told me he likes to talk less because it helps him focus and to have the music softer to hear outside sounds. The way my safe friend’s drive has influenced me to carry the same caution.

Overall, successful driving education is more than attending driving school. It is social media and most importantly the people around us. The very parents, friends, and mentors’ habits influence the young drivers to be who they are today. I am fortunate to have amazing people demonstrate safe practices while driving because they have shaped me to be a safe driver today. They are the driver behind the driver, me.