I’ve never driven with friends. Here’s why.

None of my friends have ever driven me. In movies, you often see a car full of teenagers blasting music and driving to a party. Or two teenagers driving home from a first date at the movies. Maybe a group of friends carpooling to school. This has never been my reality.

My mother has always been cautious about driver safety and has always taught me to be aware of cars when crossing the street or walking in a parking lot. When the time came that my older friends began driving, she stressed how dangerous the roads could be. Then, came her ultimatum: no one can drive you unless they’ve had a child. She was joking of course, but her main point was that she didn’t want any inexperienced drivers making irresponsible decisions that could lead to disastrous consequences. She reasoned that parents had plenty of experience driving their children and making safe choices on the road. Since then, I haven’t been driven by any of my friends. I always believed it was an extreme decision, but once she told stories of her close friends’ teens getting in accidents, it didn’t seem as extreme as before. My mother believes that many teenagers don’t take driving seriously, and I began to agree with her.

Arriving to the DMV to get my permit, I was paranoid. I thought I would have to take a secret driving test or answer difficult questions about road safety. It was surprising when all I had to do to get access to the road was to learn basic road safety and walk into the DMV. The course took me two days and moderate motivation to finally get my permit. It made sense why some teenagers don’t take driving seriously: our own society doesn’t take it as seriously as it should. Teenagers get access to the road without any prior experience necessary. Although many parents help their children practice in parking lots, they aren’t nearly the same as busy roads full of other cars, passing pedestrians, and cyclists. Even when driving with parents or an adult, teenagers with permits are still behind the wheel and can be in horrific accidents. Some of my friends have been in accidents while driving with a permit.

Therefore, drivers ed is essential in reducing the amount of deaths from driving. If only my friends had taken a mandatory physical course that helped them practice with an adult, they could’ve had more experience and known to make safer choices. Since teens with permits rarely have any drivers ed, only a simple course regarding basic road safety and substance abuse, they can be caught up in an accident. Some schools offer drivers ed, but many don’t. If more schools offered it, more teens could make awareness, fast decisions, and safer choices second nature. I plan on taking a course, and suggesting it to my friends, in order to gain more experience before going on the road on my own.