Ignorant Driving

Two years ago, I sat in drivers ed. A young sophomore who had never been behind the wheel. There were 9 other people in my class. Enthusiastic was a stretch to describe the class. The most enthusiasm any of them showed was when they were able to go vape during the bathroom breaks. However, in between their vape breaks the curriculum was somber. Crash, crash, prying someone out of a crash, a crash with a train, a crash from being on a phone, a crash from talking to friends, a crash from listening to music to loudly, a crash from falling asleep at the wheel. Having youthful enthusiasm, I was saddened but thought that could never be me. No one I knew had ever been in a serious crash, hardly even a fender bender. I thought that could never be me but was saddened that it could happen to others.

Despite this ignorance when it came to my safety, I was hyper aware of ever little mistake, because I was terrified of being one of those tragic stories told in drivers ed to scare new drivers. Each time my mom forgot to turn on a blinker, only stopped for two seconds rather than three, or went more than fiver over the speed limit. I imagined those videos- crash upon crash upon crash. But it was my mom, it was me, surely it could never happen.

Then it came time for me to drive. All these ignorant thoughts of immunity to crashes went out the window. I thought constantly I would be next. Terrified to merge, terrified to go over 30 miles an hour, terrified to make a left turn, terrified of being a statistic. I remembered a few of the important things from drivers ed; always use a blinker, check mirrors, rights on red if there’s no sign, any yellow sign meant caution, green means go. I paid attention in drivers ed, passed all my exams with flying colors, participated, and showed enthusiasm. Yet, I found myself feeling unprepared when I was on the road. I can not imagine how unprepared I would have felt if I had not taken drivers ed first. For many friends’ drivers ed was the last thing they did before going down to the DMV for their license.

Drivers’ education was crucial for me to feel comfortable behind the wheel. It taught the basics, ways of the road, gas versus brake, but more importantly it reinforced how to take a test. Often my instruction would say to not worry about the specifics, they were not going to be on the test. The tests were good in assuring proficiency, but I was not there to take another multiple-choice test where even guessing I could have passed, I was there to learn how to drive. Teaching to the tests took away from student participation, I was told numerous times my teacher did not have time to answer questions, or she would not be able to cover what was on the test. I should not have been learning how to operate a deadly machine the same way I had learned to solve for x. Monotone lectures fitted to a test is not an accurate way to enforce all the complexities of driving. Leaving drivers education I still struggle at time to know who has the right of way, I still do not know what all the symbols on signs mean, but I can tell you a reasonable guess given a choice of a, b ,c, or d.

I learned more how to fear driving than I did right of way, or what the symbols on my car mean. The videos shown were made by my class to be more of a comedy than a tragedy. A tragic story about a teen crashing while talking on her phone became on commentary on how outdated her phone was, how weird her clothes looked, how funny she spoke, and how bad the acting was. The use of outdated and unrealistic videos detached themselves from reality and made them a joke rather than a warning. Resources should be updated to be more relatable to the modern students watching them. Videos spending an hour warning about texting a flip phone become irrelevant when half the class can send texts through their car. Students feel as though since the videos are so old the mistakes and tragedies within can no longer apply to themselves. Enforcing that youthful feeling of invincibility, and a sense of superiority growing up in a more modern time.

Culturally we also need to destigmatize the idea of accidents, and road fatalities. Whenever someone gets into a crash, we look down upon them, make comments about how they should have been smarter, should have looked both ways, or should not have been in such a rush. We are so quick to shame them for the crash, yet not ask why it happens. When someone dies in a crash the situation is met with grief, but sometimes judgement creeps through. Yet each one we glaze over. An accident is met with a new caw the next week, a site of death is met with traffic hours later. We need to talk more about accidents in order to learn from each other and encourage proper learning rather than “they should have known better”, so teach them. Conversations about accidents, and road fatalities will highlight the issue rather than sweep it under the rug. The lack of talking causes a gross underestimation of the dangers of driving, encouraging that ignorance around accidents, “I know what I am doing I could never crash”. Ego and driving do not mix well, yet socially we encourage them to.