Driver Education Initiative Scholarship

My name is Raena Sosa and this is my fourth year of driving. In just a small amount of time, I’ve seen first hand the importance of driver education for everyone despite income or background. Over the past four years, I have seen many crashes that could have been prevented if the driver had been more aware, not in a rush, or forgettable. I myself have never gotten into a wreck, at least not yet. I am very careful when it comes to merging or moving lanes. Even a simple move like parking can end up in an accident.

One way driver education can improve is by extending time driving with an instructor along with explanations of certain lights or signs after the drive to ensure the student understands what signs mean. Even asking a simple question of, “do you think you can make the yield left turn?” could help a lot with rushfull driving. The problem with rushfull driving is that the driver thinks they can make reckless turns in time at the risk of them and their passengers. Instilling that not every turn is manageable and other drivers are unpredictable, they could slow down, speed up, or take a quick turn just like you. Being aware of the consequences and improving situation awareness could dramatically improve driver decisions.

My strong rules about driving came to a test when my drunk friend wanted to drive home. Unfortunately, I did not have my car to drive them home so I had to call a friend to pick them up. However, my drunk friend insisted on driving back home in their condition. I told her she was being reckless and endangering people’s lives when a ride was available. Luckily, my sober driver showed up and took her just as she was walking to her car. After the incident, I told her she was not my friend anymore. Of course, she couldn’t understand why. There is a problem within the young adults that think they can make it back home after a couple of drinks. It’s like if they do not have their car, they could die, or lose that privilege of theirs.

When I first began my lessons for driving, my dad had no patience with me. I was too focused on not crashing to know where I am going, or how to understand certain lights. As a new driver, it was a terrible experience to try to manage both at the same time all of a sudden. Truthfully, I had almost caused crashes because of not understanding the lights while also navigating the road. When I finally went to an actual driving school, it was a lot slower but easier to manage. They had to talk about navigating and driver safety separately, which gave me time to process it. So when the time came to take a drive to the Mall, I was prepared! On the road, putting together navigating and safely came naturally at that point. The only problem with driving school is how expensive it is for a basic family. Not every family has enough to have driving lessons for each child, which could have disastrous consequences.
Being an understanding driver but also being affordable for low income families could have driver education be more well known rather than exclusive to a class of family. We also need to take time with teaching the generation. Expecting them to know where to go or how to read signs with 0 years of experience is harder. The easier the learning is for the child, the more confidence they’ll have with driving in certain situations.

As a Driver, I want to inform my siblings and their friends when it’s their time to learn how to drive. Sometimes kids are afraid to ask “stupid questions”. As a consequence, future accidents are inevitable. If kids are comfortable asking simple questions to people close to them, the more they will understand.

Having a safe environment that takes time to drill certain values of driving in them while also putting little pressure at the beginning can do wonders! If I had that type of learning when I was younger, I would actually enjoy driving! But because of the constant yelling if you slip up, I am still paranoid when I get in my car.

Irresponsible driving can lead to lives lost, ruined, and sentenced. It is important to try and improve driver education for every generation after us to stop this needless death, whether that be through driver classes, friends and family, or being responsible for other people.