Dear Everyone, Please Drive Responsibly

To be permitted the power to drive is equal to being permitted the power to hold a gun. Driving a car means that you are controlling a machine that weighs over ten times what the average person weighs and has the ability to destroy property, harm, or even kill someone. While getting your license is fun and a staple of a teenager coming of age, one should also understand the seriousness of handling such heavy machinery. I’m sure we all can think of someone in our lives that we have experience who does not deserve this privilege. For me, it was my father.

First, let me introduce myself, my name is Jason. I’m currently 17 years old and plan to take my driver’s test and get my license at the end of this month. I’ve been practicing with my mom for months now and she has helped me to learn and feel comfortable with following the rules of the road. She is an excellent instructor even if in the beginning she was a bit nervous to work with such a new driver. To put it simply, my mother an excellent driver, while my dad on the other hand is the complete opposite.

My mom and dad have been divorced for almost 9 years now and I have not kept in much contact with him. I just remember being a young child and often seeing my mom and dad fighting over how often my dad had been drinking. My dad had a problem with alcohol, made worse was the fact that he oftentimes had the tendency to get behind the wheel while still being under the influence of the mind-numbing liquid. I remember hearing my mom plead with him to stop drinking and driving because he could hurt himself or someone else. My mom would never let my dad drive me places and I am thankful to her for that.

Those memories have been engraved into my mind and have stuck with me for years. One time I was sitting in class and one of my fellow classmates was telling a story about how he drove home one day after a party and how “good” he was at driving even though he was under the influence of alcohol. I turned to him the same way that my mom turned to my dad and told him how dangerous that actually is. The only difference is that this classmate of mine actually listened to my warning. When he realized how he was not only putting his own life at risk but other people’s lives as well, he felt awful and told me that he will never do it again. I think it is important to understand the severity of driving under the influence and I will continue to follow in my mom’s footsteps in helping people to understand how powerful the privilege to drive truly is.