Together We Can

When
I got my driver’s license, I never imagined that I would be
refusing to drive a year later. In December of 2018, one of my close
friends from middle school was involved in an extremely severe car
accident. She broke 3 vertebrae in her back, but the bigger problem
was that her brain swelled so much, so quickly, that she underwent
emergency surgery to remove more than half of her skull. She was on a
ventilator for 12 days and comatose for nearly 8 months. Even now,
she is aware but unable to speak, and barely able to hold her head
upright. She’d only had her license for about two months, and I was
so unsettled that I wouldn’t drive for a week. For me, this was
fairly drastic because my school is across the city and I value my
independence very highly. Since then, I have been significantly more
aware of car accidents and the effects they have on people. As a high
school student, I hear about wrecks ranging from a bumper tap to
totaled quite often. Over the years, I’ve realized that people are
often woefully ignorant of the consequences of unsafe driving until
it is too late. The teen mindset of invincibility paired with unclear
rules and no experience is a recipe for disaster, and the
consequences are disastrous.

Teenagers are notoriously foolhardy, especially when given a massive
vehicle that can go really fast. The thing that most of us do not
realize is what can happen when things go wrong. I would suggest
having teens talk to a car crash survivor or sit in a simulator as
part of the license requirement to cement the idea that safe driving
is vital to the safety of a community. Understanding that car
accidents are devastating to everyone involved and can get you killed
may help people understand the severity of the situation. In
addition, I would suggest increasing the amount of hours needed to
earn a license. My friend had only been driving for two months when
she attempted to cross a busy road, and the general consensus was
that she simply timed it wrong. Increasing the amount of experience
needed would help to remedy this. In driving, the confidence to make
a turn or cross a street is important, but that confidence would be
more present with more time to practice while there’s a guiding
adult in the car.

In
Virginia, people under 18 are not allowed to use their phone in the
car: no GPS, music, calling, or texting. Additionally, they cannot
drive more than one person at a time for a whole year; at that point
the limit is 3 if they are transportation to or from a school or
church activity. For some reason, keeping track of these rules is
extremely difficult. Part of it is probably that phones were designed
to be addictive, and it’s very difficult to put them down. Another
part is that people simply don’t know. When I mention that underage
people aren’t supposed to use their phones for anything, my friends
look at me like I’ve grown three heads.If the rules for
transportation were universal in drivers ed, more people would
follow them and drive with fewer distractions. Additionally, I think
that a course about six months in–like a pulsecheck–would help
check on new drivers and ensure they’re driving well. In addition,
raising the penalty for unsafe behaviours such as being on one’s
phone or doing their hair may help reduce these behaviours, and in
turn, the number of accidents.

Ever
since my friend’s accident, I’ve been much more cognisant of my
own behaviors while driving. The first thing I made sure to do is
stay off my phone while driving. Especially since my watch buzzes
whenever someone texts me, it can be really difficult to keep myself
from checking it every stoplight. I’ve taken to putting my watch on
Do Not Disturb while I drive so that this distraction isn’t
present. In addition, if I don’t know where I’m going, I look up
and memorize the directions before I leave the house, or else program
it into my GPS before I drive. Additionally, when I am driving in
less safe conditions such as a rainstorm or heavy fog, I turn off the
radio and ask other people in the car to be quiet so I can properly
focus on the road, and I encourage others to do the same.

Overall,
driving safely isn’t hard. Most accidents are preventable if
everyone follows the rules of the road and stays alert. My behind the
wheel instructor always told me to drive like everyone else is on
their phone, and taking this mindset helps people be more proactive.
I encourage everyone to pay attention to how they drive and treat it
like the dangerous activity it is. Together, we can change the number
of accidents for the better.