6th Times the Charm

I failed my driving exam 5 times. Yes, it’s true, get your laughs out now. Most people would assume this means I’m a bad or negligent driver, but I’d argue it made me a stronger driver by allowing me to realize the most important truth about driving that most people ignore. And once I’d realized it, it made me a safer, more observant driver. Along with this, I was late to get my license compared to my peers, only acquiring it towards the end of my senior year. This made me appreciate having the opportunity to drive that much more, along with allowing me to observe how other people my age drive and what mistakes to avoid. Overall, my experience getting my license aided me more on my journey to becoming a better driver than taking Drivers ed did.

In my first two driving tests, I made quite simple beginner mistakes, turning right without looking, driving into a crosswalk to turn, but not turning. I was disgruntled, but knew I had to be more attentive and focused. I came back two weeks later ready for my final test. I put in work driving with my parents and paying attention to how they, and others, drove. When I came back for my third test I was greeted, or should I say wasn’t greeted, by one of the most stern, depressing people I have ever met. She was almost comically mean, didn’t ask my name, she didn’t even look me in the eye. I immediately recognized there was no way to get on her good side. I had to be on my best behavior if I wanted to pass this test. I did everything right for 75% of the exam, until she threw a curveball and told me to turn left at the last second and then marked me off for “not being completely in the turning lane”. I was beyond disheartened. I now had to start all over and pay a fee to take my written Drivers Ed test over. Discouraged, I picked myself back up and started the process all over. As luck would have it, I was randomly assigned to the aforementioned evil instructor for a second time and it was just as bad as the first time, she didn’t even wish me a happy birthday when it was brought up. Needless to say, I failed again. Now I was beginning to get upset, what was I doing wrong? I had driven over 100 hours by this point with my parents and understood the laws of the road pretty well. Then I failed my 5th one. I was distraught, it was hopeless. No matter what I did, I always missed something, I turned too wide, I didn’t stop enough at a stop sign, I slowed down too much to turn. However, when I finally passed, I made some of these mistakes. I came to almost a complete stop before turning and my exam proctor didn’t care. Mistakes that were weighted as an instant fail by one proctor were overlooked by another. And when I began driving, I saw more and more people making egregious driving errors. This led me to two conclusions: One, Teslas rot the brains of their drivers, and having a safe drive is often out of your control.

My experience getting my license taught me that at the end of the day, no matter how careful, experienced, or prepared you are, driving is primarily affected by luck. You could be going the speed limit and a street racer will merge lanes too quickly and total your car. Someone could be on their phone and run a red light, t-boning you. There are far too many uncertainties. In my home city of Los Angeles, there were 91,462 car accident injuries and deaths in 2018. Driving is one of the most dangerous activities we could possibly do, and yet we do it without a second thought every single day. Luck impacts driving so much more than any of us truly realize. This has taught me to be a more perceptive and cautious driver. While I can’t control my luck, I can somewhat control the amount of variables that surround me. When I drive I try to avoid being near other cars when I can. Having a good following distance makes it significantly easier to drive safely and comfortably, and keeping an eye on all cars around you will make you feel like you have more control. So in essence, even though there are too many variables out of our control, taking steps to avoid these factors goes a long way to being a safer driver. Additionally, there is a level of cognitive dissonance that is needed in order to drive confidently. We know subconsciously how dangerous driving can be. Everyday driving to work I am reminded of this fact when I see ripped tires or scattered car debris on the side of the freeway. Yet we still put this fact out of our minds in order to get ourselves from point A to point B. Sometimes the best you can do is develop safe habits to give yourself some semblance of control. As odd as that may be, the safety of a drive often also depends on the confidence and tranquility of the driver. Maybe it isn’t necessarily the actions themself, but the mindset it puts you in. Overall, being a safe driver is, of course, very important to remaining safe on the roads, but I do think there are levels to safety that are unfortunately out of our control.