Drivers ed Initiative

Imagine
you’re in the back seat of the car with your family, you’re all
on your way back from your older brother’s freshman orientation. You
and your brother are arguing about whose turn it is to pick the
movie, your dad and mom are having some conversation up front, you
aren’t paying attention. Everything is completely normal until you
hear your dad shout (at least you think it was your dad, but it
sounded too pinched to be his) as tires screech, and then it feels
like the car is violently pulling you. Next thing you know there is
only black, you don’t know where you are or which ways up, you
don’t even know if you’re alive, if your family is alive.

Twelve
years ago this is what my family and I went through, we were on a
four lane highway when a jeep careened into a sedan and then into our
suv. We were spun sideways and thrown up against a jersey barrier,
rolling two and a half times until the sedan stopped us. I still
don’t know how long we were stuck like that, hanging in the air,
our seatbelts being the only thing that were keeping us up.

That
day my mother (who was driving our car) did everything right, she was
going the speed limit, she hadn’t taken her eyes off the road,
didn’t have her phone out: she did everything that she was taught
in drivers ed. The man in the jeep had taken his eyes off the
road, he didn’t think that anything could happen, but it did.

Drivers
education classes aren’t just there to teach us how to drive a car,
but what can happen if you drive one unsafely. They teach us about
distracted driving, driving under the influence, driving while on the
phone/texting; and we see the results. So put your phone down, pull
over to change the radio, wait until you get where you’re going.
Remember you are not the only one one the road, the only one who has
a family waiting for them. If it’s something your driving
instructor would be disappointed in you for, don’t do it.

Over
the past decade new laws have been put into effect all over the
country, laws that go beyond the old distracted driver laws. These
new ones ban the use of cell phones while driving. No texting and no
phone calls unless it’s able to be done without using your hands.
Laws like this are made for a reason, to keep those who lack common
sense from killing others.

The
ways to stay safe on the road are pretty straight forward. First
wait! Wait to call, text, change the station, or anything else.
Second, slow down! Better to get there late than not at all. Third,
the rules of the road are there for a reason, listen to them. Last,
road rage is real! Your life and the lives of others around you are
worth it.