Surgeons Vs. Drivers: The Battle of Negligence

I had appendicitis around 3 years ago. When my abdomen began to hurt so much that it became difficult to walk, my dad and I rushed to the car and drove to the hospital. I was only thirteen, I had never been in a hospital bed, I had never had an IV, and I had never had surgery. Needless to say, I was scared and in pain. Before I went into the operation, the doctor said that legally, she is required to tell me that there is a chance of death going into the surgery. My face went pale and fear shot through my body, tears started to well up in my eyes. I looked at my dad who was sitting by my side. I will never forget what he told me, “Whitney, you had a better chance of death driving on the way here than in that surgery.” The surgery went fine, and recovery was smooth thanks to the surgeons that took such care during the operation. In the 3 years since the surgery, I have grown, I’ve gone to driver’s education with 911 drivers school, rode as a passenger multiple times with other teens, and most recently, got my license. In those three years, I have come in contact with more near-death experiences than ever before. My second time driving with a permit was at the age of fifteen, I was driving with my dad up a hill near my house. When I had a line of sight over the hill I could see a truck, in the wrong lane speeding toward me at 50 miles per hour. I moved to the shoulder and luckily, the truck swerved back to the proper lane before something bad could happen. The fear that I felt at that moment triumphed over any fear I had felt going into surgery. The man driving the truck was on his phone, and in such a careless act could have killed three people, including himself.

While I have never been in a car crash personally, I know many people who have, most of them being high schoolers. My friend’s boyfriend totaled his car crashing into a tree, three varsity volleyball players on my school’s rival team died in a freeway crash due to texting while driving, I received a phone call from a friend directly after he rear-ended someone, and I have witnessed a teen car crash caused by drunk driving. Every one of these tragic instances occurred due to a lack of attention and education and could have been prevented with cautious driving. It’s important to learn the basic rules of the road but oftentimes, it’s not enough to protect from crashes. After practicing adhering to signs, parallel parking, and learning the road’s laws, driving is a skill that is easily remembered. While it can’t be fully forgotten, over time, it will become negligent. People will say “I know how to drive,” but do they know how to drive safely? Increasingly in recent years, driving schools have shifted from only teaching the rules of the road to heavily emphasizing defensive driving tactics and the danger that comes with negligence. Teens will often look at their phones, drink, speed, and participate in other distracting activities while driving. As a teenager, I know many people who text and drive. When I confront them about their behavior they often say, “it’s not a big deal.” In most cases they are right, it’s not a big deal to glance at your phone or push the send button on a text message, but it is when you are driving. There will be a time when they glance at their phone and in the seconds they use looking away from the road, they won’t see the light turning red, the lamppost on the side of the road, or the person trying to cross the street. I ask them if you totaled your car while looking at your phone, would you tell your parents, “it’s not a big deal?” Would you tell the family of the person you injured that “it’s not a big deal?”

Many young adults don’t understand the consequences that come from even the tiniest of actions. Negligence is a killer, it has demonstrated repeatedly its power over the human mind. Only through teaching young drivers the importance of being alert and aware while driving can negligence cease to be an issue. This happens through education, through telling the stories of the people who have been injured or lost their lives due to someone not paying attention on the road. Driving schools can teach the concept of caution over speed, and emphasize what distractions look like and how to avoid them. The driving instructor I had in my class proposed an easy solution for people who struggle with looking at their phones while driving, put the device in the backseat or trunk. The method is good because it helps decrease the temptation of looking at their phone. Defensive driving is also a tactic that keeps people alert and aware of their surroundings while driving. Defensive driving and negligence should keep being taught in driver education courses and should be highlighted in the course.

Sometimes these techniques don’t work, however, because they are only successful if the person is willing to commit to using them. Through education, young and old drivers can learn the consequences of negligence on the road and when understood, can create safety for our communities. As an individual, I can talk to people I know and start a conversation about how to be a safe driver. By spreading the word about negligent driving, people can become more aware of how they directly impact the safety of a community whether intentional or not. High schoolers don’t often understand the effect they have on someone’s life. To counter this, high schools can start programs dedicated to spreading awareness for distracted driving or have a yearly assembly about negligent driving to spread awareness among young adults. Only through taking these steps of spreading awareness and educating drivers about these issues, can communities become safe. If everyone had the same amount of education and care driving as the doctors had in the surgery room, accidents would not be such a problem because a medical professional would definitely not be texting during the operation.