With Great Driving Comes Great Responsibility

I sit at the edge of a church pugh, the only sound that breaks the stark silence is the piercing cry of a teenage girl sitting at the front of the aisle. “She was my best friend,” I hear her wail, “we were supposed to graduate together.”

I wince and keep my head held low, my mind still desperately trying to grasp around the dreadful series of events that just occured in a matter of mere hours this morning.

It was Graduation Day, a day meant for celebration of new comings for the new, upcoming class of 2018. Of course, I was not the one who would be graduating, but I was there to support my graduating family friends. As I waited patiently for the ceremony to commence, my eyes searched the crowd for my mother, but to no avail. I fish out my phone from the pocket of my dress.

Where are you? The ceremony is about to start. I texted her.

I’m running late, she replied, There’s been a really bad accident.

At first, I thought nothing of it. It’s probably some minor accident that caused a traffic delay, I thought. I sent a quick text to my mother that I would save her a seat at the ceremony and proceeded to go inside the high school gymnasium for the ceremony to commence.

But the moment I stepped out of those doors, that was when reality hit.

After the graduates threw their caps, said their cheers and goodbyes, and were making their way outside the gymnasium, I caught sight of a family with a recent graduate huddled in tears. At first, I thought they were sharing tears of joy and pride, but that was until I caught sight of the police officer among them. For a brief moment, I caught a snippet of their conversation.

“I’m sorry.” I heard the officer say, “your father is being hospitalized as we speak, but your sister died in the crash.”

My brows furrowed. My mind thought back to the crash my mother had referenced just a few hours ago. I heard an excruciating cry come from the graduate, the sister’s brother. I saw the mother cling onto him, her shoulders heaving heavily from sobs. Graduation Day, a day of celebration and now mourning.

Within the next hour, people started making their way to the church to give their prayers to the family. “She was my best friend.” I heard the cry of another teenage girl tear through the stark silence of the church. “We were supposed to graduate together.”

News about the accident started to unfurl over the next few days. The crash was made at a left hand turn, into the main entrance of Gate 13 to Yongsan Army Base. An oncoming, speeding motorcyclist crashed into a minivan, carrying a father and his daughter as they were making their way to the high school graduation. There were two tragedies from that crash: the teenage girl and the motorcyclist. The father was then rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

That tragic story still stuck with me, even to this day. As a recent recipient of my drivers license, I cannot help but always take too long of pauses at left hand turns or jolt at the sudden rumble of motorcyclists. My mind always reverts back to that tragic accident whenever I am in the driver’s seat, but having a driver’s education program really helped boost my confidence in driving.

The number one thing my instructor emphasized throughout all of my driving training, from day one to ten, was always making constant traffic checks. She always made sure that my eyes were constantly scanning the road, even at times when I wasn’t expecting it. At every intersection, at every corner, at every break in the road, always take the time to scan the road for any unexpected cars, she would say. She taught me the importance of speed limits, in that speed limits must always be followed through, but also keep in mind the flow of traffic.

But most importantly, my driver’s education truly taught me the responsibility as a driver. The moment one sits behind the wheel, one must understand that the lives of their passengers are literally in their hands. It is up to the driver to take responsibility and safe precautions while driving, so that it reduces the amounts of risk and possible deaths that could occur. Drivers of all alike must abide by speed limits to avoid unnecessary collisions. One must take extra safety precautions when making a left hand turn because they are heading into oncoming traffic. Knowing these things could reduce tragedies like the one I experienced on graduation day. Innocent lives could be saved if drivers, old and new, take into account the valuable lessons that are learned in drivers education.

Now is a better time than ever to understand the importance of having a driver’s education. With the increasing rise of cell phone usage, especially among teenagers, this leads to lots more distracted driving on the road. According to the National Safety Council, 1.6 million crashes occur each year due to cell phone use, and 21% of those are teenagers who are distracted on their phones. Even more so, teen drivers are 4 times more likely than adults to get into car crashes or near-crashes when talking or texting on a cell phone, and what’s worse is that a teen driver with only one additional passenger doubles the risk of getting into a fatal car accident. With two or more passengers, they are 5 times as likely. New, teenage drivers today must understand the importance and responsibility it takes to be a driver. New drivers must remain constantly vigilant whenever they are behind the wheel and driving, not looking down at their phones. They must understand the prime responsibility of a driver, in that the lives of their passengers are in their hands. If the driver is distracted, then the lives of the passengers and those around them are jeopardized. Taking a driver’s education would help them learn just that, to be not only a safe driver but a knowledgeable one who knows the dire responsibility it takes to be one.

Works Cited

Gamel, Kim. “Tragic Yongsan Garrison Crash Strikes American Family on Graduation Day.” Stars and Stripes, 9 June 2018, https://www.stripes.com/tragic-yongsan-garrison-crash-strikes-american-family-on-graduation-day-1.531893.

“Texting and Driving Accident Statistics – Distracted Driving.” Edgarsnyder.com, 8 Aug. 2019, https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/cause-of-accident/cell-phone/cell-phone-statistics.html.