The Smooth Road

For many teenagers like myself, getting a license is a right of passage, another feather in our cap to say we’re closer to becoming an adult, and an inch closer to freedom. As someone who only recently got his driver’s license, I remember acting confidently when I first got behind the wheel but my mind was being bombarded with scenarios, recalling the different buttons and which way to point the turn signal, and making sure all of my mirrors were adjusted correctly. What I found helped me the most in learning to drive going through a driver’s education program.

Perhaps the most beneficial element of a driver’s education program is driving with an instructor and not my parents. Unlike my parents, mostly my mom, driving instructors are more calm and are able to explain the laws and expectations more clearly. Driving in a car where the instructor also has control of the car eased my mind and lowered my anxiety. Over three 2-hour lessons, my instructors took me on different routes, including the freeway. This helped my confidence but also gave me the opportunity to experience other drivers, the good and the bad. Popular belief is that California drivers are one of the worst so experiencing some of the bad drivers while with my driving instructor helped me navigate through possible problems.

Another part of the driver’s education program that helps reduce the number of deaths is a class that our high school, Poway High School, requires all student drivers and a parent take in order to receive a parking pass. This class is led by two Sheriffs. The most impactful part of the class was the pictures of real accidents and news videos of the scenes of these accidents. Although many of the pictures and videos were gruesome, the images of blood, twisted bodies, and crying friends and family members made it so real and burned the importance of safety in my mind, and hopefully in the mind of my peers. One of the incidents the sheriff’s brought up happened directly in front of our school where a father and his young son were killed because someone was speeding. Because it happened just the year before, we all knew about the incident, again making the impact of the class even more important.

The most powerful message my driving instructors and the Sheriffs reiterated was that my actions and behavior behind the wheel will not only impact me but impact those in the car with me, our friends and family, the drivers around me, and their friends and family. This realization first started to make me nervous because not only do I have to drive with my life in mind but also the life of my passenger. Most of the time, this life is my younger sister. I’m responsible for taking her to school everyday. Although it’s only a mile to school, a lot of people are driving on that same mile in the morning. I can’t control their driving but I can control my driving and being a defensive driver. There was a time where my family and I were on a road trip and on our way home. My dad noticed in the rear view mirror that someone behind us was swerving through traffic. The car swerved into a semi truck in the left lane and went across three lanes and then into the wall. A lot of cars were speeding up to move out of the way so it forced my dad to swerve towards the shoulder lane to keep hitting the car in front of us. It was scary to hear the car crash into the wall, only a few feet behind our car. Again, my dad couldn’t control that driver but his attentiveness and quick reaction kept us away from being a part of the accident.

My friends make fun of me because I have the fastest car amongst our friend group but I drive the speed limit and don’t push my limits. I have friends who, when they got their car, they started driving recklessly in order to “test the limits” of their car. I would hear about their stories of going 100+ mph down main roads just because they felt like it. It’s fortunate that no one was hurt but it was very dangerous. One of my friends asked if he could “test” my car. I refused to hand over the keys because that was just a stupid idea. I was taught to remember my responsibility as a driver and the many risks it encompasses. Plus, if anything were to happen to my car because I was idiotic enough to let someone else drive it knowing he would not take care of it, my parents would revoke my privilege to have a car.

In addition to remembering to be aware of the lives of other drivers and their passengers, people should make sure their cars are in good and safe working condition. I see cars with broken bumpers, scratched doors, and even broken windows. In my experience, those who have cars like this are more reckless drivers and don’t care about what happens to the car. The problem with this, however, is back to the idea that their reckless driving affects others. Just because a person doesn’t care about their car, it shouldn’t affect someone else’s life. Something like this starts with the parents who are teaching the rules of the road. Teenagers are eager to press on the gas pedal but parents should first emphasize and teach the value of life and the responsibility of being a driver.