New Teen Driver

New Teen Driver

I’m a new teen driver who recently received my driver’s license. Leading up to the issuance of my driver’s license, I had to take driver’s training both in the classroom and behind the wheel. As you take the classroom training, you learn all about the rules of the road in order to make sure you can get to your destination safely. The same goes for when it’s time to drive behind the wheel. You learn how to operate a vehicle safely on local streets and on the highway.

As a new driver, I practice the safe driving habits I learned. What is interesting to me is seeing how many drivers don’t practice safe driving. Sometimes I wondered why my dad was always telling me, “anticipate that car is going to turn in front of you”, “that car is going to speed up to get in front of you”, and “monitor your speed to keep a safe braking distance.” I wondered why kept saying these things as I didn’t think it was a big deal. But, as I’ve begun to drive on my own, I started seeing what he meant. I thought people would observe the rules of the road. My dad is always saying to me that if you observe the rules of the road then there won’t be as many accidents. They are called “accidents” and not “purposes.” In essence, no one collides their vehicle with another vehicle on purpose. Usually if the police is called out to the scene of a traffic accident, the driver that caused the accident can be or is usually issued a citation because they didn’t follow the rules of the road.

During this time with fewer cars on the highway, I have seen vehicles being driven unsafely. I have seen people driving on the freeway well in excess of the posted speed limit. Sometime, as I look in my rearview mirror, I’ll see cars speeding up behind me, so rather than speed up, I will get over one lane so that car can pass me. I have also seen cars while driving in the carpool lane cross the double white lines to enter and exit the carpool lanes on the freeway in order to simply pass another car. This is clearly not the intent of the carpool lane. These drivers disrupt traffic which can cause serious traffic accidents as people driving in the carpool lane aren’t expecting someone to suddenly get in front of them and the same applies when the driver in the lane next to the carpool lane isn’t expecting someone to suddenly cut out of the carpool lane and in front of them. This clearly creates a dangerous situation for all drivers.

One of the things I can do to be a better and safer driver is to make sure that I don’t become a distracted driver. Sometimes, while sitting behind a car at a light, the light will turn green and the driver in front of me will not move forward. I can see that the driver’s head is down then all of a sudden, the driver will look up and see that the light has turned green and drive off. This is clearly a sign that the driver was probably texting or checking their social media account. I have made a conscience effort not to check my phone will driving or while sitting at a light waiting for it to turn green. More importantly, I make sure that while sitting at a light that I don’t send a quick text message to a friend. In 2019, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) 3,142 deaths occurred at the hands of a distracted driver.

One of my dad’s friends is a traffic investigator who works for a large law enforcement agency. He is responsible for handling traffic accident investigations and has responded to many investigations. A good number of accidents he has responded to has involved people who have had their driver’s licenses suspended or revoked. I believe that if drivers have their licenses suspended for traffic violations, then those drivers should be required to retake the written portion of the driver’s license test to prove their proficiency in knowing the rules of the road, thereby creating a safer environment for all drivers on the road.

Another step that could be taken to ensure safe driving to reduce traffic deaths would be to require a driver that if the operator of a motor vehicle causes an accident where someone is seriously injured or dies, that driver should have to have to retake both the written and driver’s portion of the driver’s license test. If drivers had to take the time to schedule a time to retake their written test, and pay for additional behind the wheel driver’s training in order to keep their driver’s license, they would be more willing to drive safely.