Responsibility On The Road

There is an incomparable excitement surrounding sixteenth birthdays. A sweet sixteen, cake, presents, and most likely a driver’s license. Parents will pull their kids out of school to go to the DMV to get their long-awaited license. Their ticket to freedom which they have spent a year or maybe even two to earn. A license is a privilege. A privilege that comes with so much responsibility to protect yourself and the others sharing the road with you. It is terrifying how fast things can become disastrous on the road. The weapon against these accidents is education.

Education has a massive impact on the driving death toll. In the state of Illinois, freshmen students in high school are required to take two driving courses in school, an in-class course, and a behind-the-wheel class. A driver in training also must get at least fifty hours of experience on the roads with a permit. All of this preparation still does not seem to be enough. Drivers ed does a great job of teaching kids the rules of the road. However, from personal experience, there tends to be a lack of teaching kids about the consequences of their actions. The curriculum does cover situations like DUIs and other incidents, but the material only covers the emotional and legal consequences instead of financial consequences. Emotional and legal results are important to talk about, but they might also influence drivers to make safer choices while driving if they were also aware of the costs of having to repair a car, potentially buying a new car, or having to pay for damages to the other cars involved. Financial consequences of dangerous driving can be as much of a deterrence as emotional and legal consequences.

There should also be a greater emphasis on the dangers of being on a phone while driving. Believe it or not, the common phrase no texting when driving is just about the only advice students learn about distracted driving. Distracted driving is a killer, but phones are guilty too. There have been numerous times I have caught my friend trying to text and drive even while I am in the car, and could type out their message while they focus on the road. I have heard many excuses like, “I wanted to change the song,” “my mom wants to know where I am, so I need to respond now,” or “it is only a few seconds this is not a big deal.” Except distracted driving is a big deal. When driving a vehicle, it only takes a few seconds or a glance down at a phone for an accident to occur. This friend recently almost got into an accident because he tried to text while looking up directions instead of pulling over. He was looking down to type while on the road, and he blew through a stop sign while another car was driving past. He had to swerve and nearly run off the road to avoid a collision. My friend got lucky this time.

It is crucial in this age of technology and cell phones to show students and citizens how important it is to hold off touching their phones while driving. Instead of repeating no texting while driving, educators and those making the driver’s education curriculum must show different reasons why trying to multitask being on a phone and driving is so dangerous. Showing videos, pictures, and telling stories of what could happen can motivate drivers to keep their phones away until they reach their destination. Educators could also point out phone settings and resources that mute notifications while someone is driving. Spreading awareness of these resources can decrease the number of people reaching for their phones on the road and save tons of lives. Once again, showing the financial costs involved in an accident could also deter drivers from using their devices while on the road. The more education people have about the consequences of having their attention split between a phone and the road, there will be fewer accidents caused by cellphones.

Education is the source of all actions on the road. It takes education to ensure drivers can make safe decisions to protect themselves and others on the road. Extending driver’s education to include an emphasis on financial consequences and highlighting the dangers of driving while on a device would decrease casualties on the road. Therefore, once a new driver comes to the DMV for their license on their sixteenth birthday, then they will be much more willing to drive safely.