Teenage Driving: Better Safe Than Sorry

On August 15, 2021, my perception of both my driving ability and my adolescent sense of invincibility would change forever. It was my first day of junior year, and I was attempting to make a left turn onto a two lane road in my 2016 Volvo, which I had gotten just a week prior. The right lane was completely blocked due to the school zone traffic of a middle school near my house, so I couldn’t see into the left lane. So, I signaled the driver in the right lane, hoping they could use their vantage point to determine when it would be safe to make my turn into the treacherous left lane. After about half a minute, the driver gave me the go-ahead. But I was far too slow. By the time I released the brake and started to make the turn, another car in the left lane made their turn around the corner, and didn’t see me coming as I veered into their lane. The end result was a three-car accident, as they hit me with such force and velocity that I rammed into another car in the right lane, now completely blocking the road. I can still remember the exact sensation of the accident – in truth, the impact happened so fast it was as if it didn’t happen at all. But the moments after were unforgettable. It took only a few seconds for me to come to the realization of what had just happened – and that I was the cause of it all. I couldn’t even rationalize properly at the time, with my brain only capable of screaming the phrase “this can’t be happening” over and over again. How could this have happened to me? How could I have made such a life-threatening mistake? Luckily, no one was seriously injured – I only emerged with quite a few burns from the airbag, scratches on my arms and neck from the seatbelt, and a minor impact from the collision itself. Within that last sentence, the key word is “luckily”. Realistically, anything could’ve happened – at the time, I considered my situation to be unfortunate – but significantly worse impacts could have resulted from the accident.

According to psychologist Gary Wenk, teenagers adopt high-risk behavior as a result of our frontal lobes not yet being fully engaged, since we have yet to complete the process of neuronal myelination. He compared myelination to the insulation on the electrical wires inside your house; without it, electrical signals produced by neurons fail to reach every part of the brain, particularly the frontal lobe, which is responsible for evaluating the consequences of our actions. This is not meant to justify the driving habits of myself and many other teenagers like me – it’s meant to establish a pattern of continuity. According to the CDC, the risk of motor vehicle crashes is higher among teens ages 16–19 than among any other age group. In fact, teen drivers in this age group have a fatal crash rate almost three times as high as drivers ages 20 and older. There are a number of factors contributing to their higher likelihood of fatal accidents. These include inexperience, nighttime driving, not wearing a seatbelt, distracted driving, speeding, and the use of drugs and alcohol, almost all of which are tied to high-risk behavior. Within the status quo, there are certainly ways to reduce these fatalities. One of the most obvious is the enforcement of seat belt laws, which vary amongst states. A primary enforcement seat belt law would allow officers to ticket drivers or passengers for not wearing a seat belt, which would incentivize seat belt wearing, ultimately reducing the likelihood of accidents being fatal. Even so, this doesn’t change the frequency of accidents – I had a seat belt on at the time of my accident, and even if it mitigated damages, it wouldn’t have changed the fact that the accident happened in the first place. Thus, changes cannot happen with a mere law – they must happen within.

The importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving cannot be overstated – considering the sheer magnitude that high-risk behavior in teens has on accidents, education is essential. An accident can be a sobering experience, as it was for me, which causes drivers to act safely. But not everyone has experienced this, and by the time many do, it ends up being far too late. Thus, it is necessary to illustrate to drivers (especially teens) why practicing safe driving is so important. For people my age, educators need to put driving in perspective – by choosing to speed, or text while driving, or other dangerous habits, we aren’t only putting ourselves at risk – we are impacting both the people in our own lives and the people in the lives of others involved in any accident. We often focus on ourselves, so by illustrating the far-reaching impact such a simple decision like going 15 over the speed limit can have, teens are much more likely to drive with caution than if they simply sat through a monotonous online course as part of their education. With this, I hope for a day where all of us practice safe driving, a reality that can only be made possible through high-quality driver education and safety practices.