Just Don’t Do It

Many assume it’s the new drivers that pose the largest threat on the road. My experience as a young driver and a friend of many other young drivers has shown me otherwise. While some adolescents tend to make reckless decisions and are prone to mistakes caused by inexperience, a majority are remarkably careful since they recognize their lack of training. Meanwhile, experienced drivers have higher confidence in their abilities and are more likely to attempt risky driving practices since they believe they’re skillful enough to get away with it.

When I started driving, I watched how my family members drive to learn by example. It wasn’t long before I realized that they didn’t meet the drivers ed standard of safe driving. They didn’t use blinkers for lane changes, turned on blinkers while changing lanes, and changed lanes on solid lines. My brother even made bets to see how long he can drive without touching the wheel. I noticed other cars neglecting blinkers, changing multiple lanes at once, cutting other cars or big-rigs off, speeding, and many other feats that I would never have the courage to pull off. Most experienced drivers assume others know who has right of way and act based solely upon that assumption without considering human error or inexperience. This causes them to feel too comfortable with not doing safety checks. When accidents don’t happen, they continue driving unchanged since their luck continuously reassures them that they are correct.

Over time, I noticed myself beginning to succumb to the same habits I saw so often. Although at first, it was uncomfortable, with more experience, reckless driving became the new normal. What forced me to move back into safe driving practice was my driving test, I realized I still had to maintain good practice and forced myself through the motions once again. Although it isn’t as easy as picking and choosing which rules to follow, it reassures me that my passengers and I will be kept safer.

I believe enacting a law to make drivers license holders continuously retake their tests every couple of years would force people to maintain a high standard. Drivers ed could also place more focus on hazardous practices that frequently occur on the road and the best way to react to them. Even small steps like raising the fine for speeding or taking away more licenses for breaking driving laws would keep people on their toes and force them to be more careful, stopping the spread of bad habits to the new generation of drivers.

Drivers ed is important to safety because no matter how many laws, lessons, or fines we pass, people grow more reckless as they grow more comfortable. When that happens, others need to know how to react. Although it may be tempting to blindly believe in one’s abilities, it doesn’t take too long to turn ahead to check for if the space is clear or turn the signal lights on. That extra effort can save many lives.