The Seriousness of Being in the Drivers Seat

January 13, 2013 was the day that I stopped having to be told to put my seatbelt on when I got in the backseat of my mom’s minivan. I was 10, and it was the day I started to stare wide-eyed through the windshield, as if keeping my undivided attention on the cars around me would keep me safe. It was the day I started to understand how dangerous the road can be. January 13 was the day a sheet of black ice on a high-way caused me to lose my aunt.

I’m 17 now, and I believe I take driving more seriously than the average person on the road. Because of my experience with how fatal driving can be, I understood the gravity of a good education before going out on the road. It’s clear to me that drivers ed is important because it can educate young people how to take driving seriously without them having to experience an unfortunate loss like so many people have. Educating teenagers how to drive safely is beyond important because it can prevent them from ever having to experience a car accident.

Having fairly recently gone through the drivers ed process myself, I truly believe that giving kids more hands on experience before getting their license is essential to better educating future drivers. In the behind the wheel process, my driving instructor took me through very rural neighborhoods, and I did not get to experience heavy traffic or busy intersections. I also drove with my parents while I had my temps, but because of their busy schedules, I really did not get to experience driving on busy highways or in more high traffic areas until after I received my license. If teens were given more extensive hands on experience, whether that be more hours of behind the wheel, or just more experience driving on busier roads, I genuinely feel that could reduce the risk that is heavily associated with newer drivers.

If anything could help make the roads safer, I believe it would be for people today to give all their attention to driving. What I mean by this is that people need to stop checking texts and social media alerts while driving. No texting while driving seems to be a universally known rule, but I see all too often that knowing the rule and following the rule seem to be two very different things. It makes me sad to know that people disregard the safety of themselves and others with such carelessness because I know that those who are on their phones while driving do not understand the responsibility they have to everyones’ safety around them. As someone who has understood this responsibility from an age when I shouldn’t have had to know it as well as I did, all I wish is for every driver to take driving seriously. When you are in the driver’s seat, take driving seriously.