Decisions in Driving

In a rural area like Smyrna, Delaware driving is the most essential way to travel. This contrasted with the city environment my family always reminisced upon. They constantly reference using the Septa or trolleys which were all foreign to me. I of course heard of public transportation, but I never knew it could be such a major aspect of life. So when it came time for my driver’s education to go underway my family readied me for this by helping me practice, and they emphasized the difference in driving from where they came from compared to where we are now. Yet my community indoctrinated me into a system that I feel has also greatly impacted the importance of driver’s education.

The Drivers Ed course in my school is taken during one semester of sophomore year. It incorporates classroom learning in order to understand the rules of the road, and daily drives for one week with an instructor to gain a learners permit. From here on every student is to practice driving with an adult who is twenty five years old or older who has no driving penalties within the last five years. After this and the completion of a minimum of 50 hours of driving, a student gains full access to their license. This system showed me how refined the process to driving was, and the justified importance my school placed in it. My community effectively allowed for the importance of driver safety to be highlighted to the youth, yet Smyrna needed to reassure that driving is a serious manner in light of transpiring events.

“Smyrna Strong” is a message in the town that spoke to the resilience our community faced with the alarming deaths that occured. These deaths always happened to teens, and took place in quick succession. Often with no time to recover, to heal, or even properly remember who we had recently lost. Both of these unfortunate deaths were due to irresponsible behavior that prompted my school to react with greater urgency in regards to teen safety on the road. The morale of the district and the students had to grapple with such devastation so rapidly. I wish I could continue by saying that everything has changed. That teen driving has been completely innovated, and the idea of lives being lost has slowed down. But my school can still do more to prevent these incidents. I believe situations that fall through teaching are how to handle high stress situations. My school taught that driving is to be done when under a level mindset, but when these occurrences happen teens are quick to make bad decisions. Decisions that could be life threatening. I think a greater enhancement, along with a continuation of the further focus on educating young drivers could allow for safer steps to be taken on the road.

The school should also adjust its approach to how it applies new drivers to the roads. Students are allowed to travel to school, without access to their full license. While not a major issue many feel distressed when the prospect of parents are brought into question. They pick up at the same time students leave school, and the added stress of beating parents, buses, and making it in time for work after school causes panic.

Although mistakes will take place, I personally use any opportunity to learn from my mistakes. I continue to improve my driving skills by watching how any trusted adults drive by staying alert. I learned this when I was young. I remember riding in the passenger seat with my father. I was too young to realize this at the time, but my father was intoxicated. I remember being confused at his swerving, or the slurring of his speech, and the unfamiliar tone he carried. The only thing I do remember is being scarred. I remember carrying anxiety on this extensive ride home. When I realized later what happened, I knew what not to do once I was grown enough to operate as a driver. The dread was immensely daunting, and it’s a feeling that no one should experience. Through the education I have received in obtaining my own license I understand that not only is driver safety important, but so is that of the passengers. This more than likely derives from my previous experiences, and I use that to influence how I drive now to dictate the value of importance I have concerning driver education.