A Ride to Remember

Last summer, two classmates of mine passed away in a tragic car accident on a road less than a mile from my home. The accident was caused by a teen driver who made the poor decision to operate a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Realizing that the friend I grew up with all throughout elementary and middle school was just gone in a flash of lights and twisted metal, shocked me, my graduating class, and our entire school community. Seeing the effects on his family as well was especially heart wrenching. As his mother presented a memorial scholarship in his honor at our school’s award ceremony, we could all see the anguish in her heart as her voice cracked and tears ran down her face.

While I would never choose to put myself in a position to drink and drive or drive under the influence, this incident served as a stark reminder of the terrible consequences of poor decision-making and reckless driving. My parents have also witnessed the injury or loss of friends throughout their life due to poor driving, and they wanted me to conduct myself with the best judgement while operating a vehicle weighing more than two tons. We signed up for Drivers Education through my school, which includes a Behind-The-Wheel portion with a driving instructor. I greatly appreciated this experience during the 6-month period of earning my driver’s license, as it gave me confidence and caution while driving. I highly recommend Drivers Ed to individuals on their learners permit because there they are able to learn so many wise real-life lessons from the wise driving instructor seated beside them during lessons. In any scenario I encountered while on the road, I could easily ask the instructor seated beside me what my best reaction for the situation would be. These 10 hours spent with my instructor also helped take pressure off for my actual test because I spent so much time practicing good driving skills with a licensed professional. Drivers Education was very helpful for me to understand what to do in certain situations, how to conduct myself as a driver, and how to cooperate with other drivers. The different styles of teaching allow for students of all learning preferences to receive accident preventing, life-saving information that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

The most important lessons I learned through Drivers Education were to stay alert and aware of my surroundings and to always trust road signs. Many people don’t realize how distracted we often are when speeding along the highway or driving worn down back roads. The main distraction is our cell phone, which can be disguised as a helpful tool during our drive, guiding us with Maps or entertaining us with Spotify music or podcasts. Distracted driving can be classified as anything that takes our hands, eyes, or attention from the road in front of us. This includes eating or drinking, glancing at a GPS every so often, or listening to engaging music or podcasts. This is difficult for many people to stop doing these things because it is so engraved in us to have our phones right beside us throughout our day-to-day routine. However, dropping these distractions will enable us to be safer drivers, both for our own sake and for that of those around us.

The other most important lesson I learned was trusting what road signs say and realizing that they were put there to help drivers stay safe. As Americans, we have created a lifestyle of attempting to maximize every possible minute of our day and to save time because time is money. This has resulted in approximately 3,000 car accidents per year (Forbes, 2023) due to eating, texting, brushing hair or teeth, and doing makeup while operating a vehicle. Unfortunately, this number only makes up 8%-9% of accidents, while the leading cause of accidents, speeding, makes up about 29% of accidents, causing over 11,000 accidents per year (NSC, 2021). While trying to make the best use of one’s time, people almost always speed to get places faster or to avoid being late. Speeding is a very common offense while driving, and therefore becomes difficult to spot because drivers tend to go with the flow and speed of traffic surrounding them. However, a massive way to greatly decrease the number of deaths related to driving is to follow speed limits and road signs. This also includes signs that indicate reduced speed due to railroad crossings and sharp curves, spots in the road that can catch a driver off guard if they are not actively scanning the road and adhering to the advice of the signs around them.

There are a few things I can work on to make myself a better driver and to help those around me to drive safely. As I mentioned earlier, my high school offers Drivers Education with an online portion and a Behind the Wheel portion. When advising underclassmen, my younger sisters, and their friends, I always highly recommend they take the course so they can be prepared for their license test and future driving experiences in general. The more that upperclassmen normalize having a driving instructor and using caution while driving, the more underclassmen will feel motivated to drive carefully, which leads me to another way I can impact those around me. When driving with my younger sisters and their friends, I should exercise proper driving habits and avoid distracting myself with things like music or noise from those in the car with me. I should pay attention to the signs around me and maintain appropriate speed instead of normalizing speeding. This is an area I could work on because my sisters are like my friends and we like to talk, joke, and play music when in the car together. By encouraging others to utilize their resources and educate themselves on safe driving while also showing a good example through my own driving mannerisms, I am able to better myself as a driver and help others become safer on the road.

There are many improvements adult and teenage drivers, such as myself, can make to keep ourselves, those riding alongside us, and others on the roads safe. For teenagers especially, Drivers Education plays a huge role in lowering the number of deaths per year by teaching and encouraging safe driving practices. I am very thankful for the privilege I had to take Drivers Ed and Behind the Wheel, and I hope through sharing my experiences, and those of my classmates, I am able to inspire others to pursue good decision-making and safe driving techniques.