Name: Natasha Uhrig
From: Oakville, Ontario
Votes: 0
New Keys, Deadly Rules
By Natasha Uhrig
My father has worked for an auto company my entire life. This meant a
new car every two to three times a year. By the time I turned 16, the
desire to drive was at the top of my to-do list, but not for the
right reasons. The colourful, shiny, newly rubber-smelling machine
was finally all mine. I was so focused on the new car to prove my
social status during senior year that I hadn’t really considered
how my life would change once I actually got behind the wheel.
The first day of driving school was a learning curve for me –
before that I had only ever driven in circles in an abandoned parking
lot with my mom. I had briefly studied the road signs, but I never
had the experience of applying them in real life situations. The
first feeling of sitting behind the wheel, foot on the gas, palms
sweaty on the steering wheel, brought straight fear. Once I got over
that initial stomach ache, it felt like going through a vortex of
whatever freedom I thought driving would be, to the reality of the
roads. Here’s what I learned faster than my gas pedal could go:
There’s no such thing as being too safe. Driving school
taught me, as a new teenage driver, how the inner workings of my
vehicle worked and why they were important. In fact, I would suggest
making it a rule that every new driver must take driver’s schooling
to receive his or her learner’s permit, and renew that testing
every 15-20 years. I always make sure my signals and break lights
work before I leave the driveway. I adjust all my mirrors, my seat
and secure that body strap nice and tight.
One of the most important things that I stress onto all my friends
that always perform poor distracted driving judgment: turn OFF your
phone notifications! Cellular use when driving is such a pathetic and
overused way to get in an accident, let alone something fatal.
Make sure to check both ways of the road before advancing, not once
but twice! Especially when the light turns green. One time someone in
oncoming traffic ran the red on me, and I would have been toast if I
didn’t look before I went.
I am a victim of the one hand on wheel technique, but it’s a habit
I am changing because even with good reflexes, you never know what’s
coming around the corner. Two hands you’re in control – anything
less and you’re risking it.
Eat before you leave the house! Snacking is just as bad of a
distracted driving method as checking your Snapchat or posting on
Instagram.
There is nothing more urgent than saving your life, or a life of
another on the road. You’re responsible for all of your
surroundings. All drivers, new and old, tend to forget that it’s
not their own safety they’re looking out for when in their
vehicles.
