2023 Driver’s Ed Essay Contest

I’m 18 years old and just recently started driving. According to my parents’ insurance company, I’m among the problems motorists face because I’m part of a class of young and inexperienced drivers. Well, that’s true. But I know I’m more concerned about other dangers, like some of the following.

Aggressive drivers. We hear these stories about stalking drivers or drivers carrying weapons. From one driving class, I remember a few helpful tips about road rage, including calling authorities to report being pursued. The teacher said if you must stop your car that you should lay on the horn to alert bystanders. For me, the best advice was to assume the good intent of other drivers. So if a male driver behind you is pushing you to speed up, say, you might imagine that he’s driving to get his pregnant wife to the hospital.

Inattentive pedestrians. We see them crossing the street, texting, or playing with their phones. We see them walking on a cloud, their Air Pods filling their heads. Or they’re crossing three lanes of traffic to catch their bus or pouring out of disabled cars on highways. Warning signs for me now include any parked bus on a busy street, any broken-down car, pedestrians looking anywhere but straight ahead, and fools dancing in crosswalks.

Drunken drivers. To hear people talk, the number of deaths from drunk drivers has come down in recent decades. Clearly, they are still too high though. We’ve made DUI penalties in many states more severe and made interlock devices a part of rehab for offenders. Many states have also used public-safety announcements to highlight DUI consequences and police agencies set up checkpoints during holidays.

Well, one other tactic occurs to me. This will be opposed I’m sure from restaurants and bars, but my thinking goes like this: I think more drivers get behind the wheel after drinking in bars or restaurants than get behind the wheel after drinking at home. So what I would suggest is that we more easily hold the bars and restaurants partly responsible when drivers get into accidents after drinking too much at these businesses.

Distracted motorists. This is the biggie, my biggest driving concern. My dad had a problem with driving and checking his emails. He doesn’t have it any more. Now, he places his phone on the back seat before he takes his seat in his car. He said that checking his email, he once ran a red light. He never texts and drives, but just checking his emails became too dangers.

Various states have passed laws to address talking on handheld phones or texting. Maybe these laws need to be strengthened. Maybe driving with a cell phone on the front seat or within the passenger area could be a driving offense, like driving with an open container. Subsequent violations could be made even more severe.

In fact, now that I think about it. Maybe these violations shouldn’t be fines. It’s way too easy for folks to fork over a little money. Maybe there should be consequences for driving points, with options for DMV driving improvement classes.

My parents told me that MADD was so successful in combatting drunk driving. Maybe the group could play an even bigger role in affecting the legal and social implications of illegal cell phone use while driving.

I once had a friend say that as far as influencing behavior all we have is the stick, the carrot, and the relationship.

Well, I can’t imagine how we can reward drivers for not misusing their phones while driving. And I don’t know how you can get folks to obey laws for the good of their neighbors, for the good of everyone – well, except for that advice from the teacher I mentioned above. That leaves the stick, which we’ve addressed at least in part.

Here are a couple of other ideas with that in mind. Maybe we can combine an educational campaign and negative consequences with commercials that show or detail the negative consequences for some drivers of, say, texting and driving.

E.g., Joe was texting and got in an accident that killed two people. He was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was also sued for $1 million by the parents of the people he killed. This is a picture of Joe, and this is what his car looked like after the accident.

In any event, these are my thoughts. Thank you for considering me for your award. Daniel Piazza