The Responsibility of Being Behind the Wheel

There is a responsibility of being behind the wheel is a life-or-death situation, in the most literal sense. The wheel of the car is the most dangerous place you can be on a casual, daily basis. Being a teenager who has freshly received your licenses can make you feel invincible. You gain a sense of empowerment and responsibility you’ve never had before and can have you act not as safely as you should be.

Up until you are sixteen years old, you are bused around by your parents, your friends’ parents, the school bus, or rides you have picked up from older friends. You go through a long process over the course of 9 months to get your licenses before being tested to see if you can earn your licenses. The second you receive the okay, it feels as if you’re training goes out the window and all you want to do is drive ‘your’ car, which may be one you bought yourself, one bought for you by your parents, or driving around your parents’ vehicle. You start making plans with your friends to go to places without a strict time limit, and you gain a feeling of independence you have only dreamed about. That feeling comes with a consequence though. Within your first year of driving, you are one of the riskiest drivers on the road as you are not as experienced to those driving around you. You become a high risk to those around you as well, as teenagers have less experience, and are not afraid to take more risks on the road.

Some lessons that should be learned about being on the road is don’t let the feeling of freedom come before the concern for you and your others wellbeing. This a broad statement of being aware of those on the road around you and paying attention. Not fiddling with the radio or Bluetooth, being on the phone, or having too many of your friends in the car is a great way to prevent any further risks of distractions to you. Another way to reduce these risks is listening to the laws that the department of Motor Vehicles has set into place, such as no more than one friend in the car for the first year of having your licenses, listening to in place curfews for young adults who are working or on the road, and not using Bluetooth devices for handsfree calling before the age of 21, as the law states in Illinois. You can avoid the stereotype of being a risky driver as teenager by being aware of the dangers behind the wheel.

Another way to avoid these struggles is by listening and continuously practicing the methods taught in driver’s education after exiting the course. By practicing using your mirrors and turning your head while backing up, you can avoid hitting cars in the parking lot on the way home from school or wherever you may go. By practicing different parking styles or legal and safe ways to turn around while in the car, you will be instilling safe driving techniques into your mind and practice them in your daily driving. If you are ever uncomfortable with certain methods after becoming out of practice of them, do not feel afraid to ask for help from parents or driver’s education instructors. Trusting your gut, the anxious feeling of asking for help while driving is going to cost you less than an accident.

The final fact to help avoid teenage fatalities within car accidents, is accepting accidents may happen while behind the wheel and trying to prevent further damage. If you see yourself increasing speed on a car that is slowed down turning, and you believe you are going to hit the vehicle in front of you, the best thing you can do without causing too much further damage to you or the car in front of you is trying to reduce speed as much as possible. If you can avoid further damage by swerving out of the way or stepping on the emergency brake, you can limit the damage on you and the further vehicles. You may be lucky enough to be one of the people in the United States who never experience an accident, but by being aware that minor accidents are common can help you try to prevent them by being a cautious driver. If you are aware of the risks ahead of you, you can save yourself and other physical damage to vehicles and bodily autonomy.