I was not the best driver growing up. Swerving in and out of lanes, pushing the speed limit, and glancing at my phone every now and then, I enjoyed the thrill of driving recklessly. It didn’t seem to be a big deal to me. In fact, everyone else was doing it, so why couldn’t I? I even got into a couple wrecks and was unaltered in my driving habits, but then, on a dark night on the freeway, I received a big ticket. This ticket was a pretty heavy one that required me to attend a mandatory four hour drivers course, or my license would be suspended. Cursing and swearing in frustration, I drug my feet to my car one cold morning to attend this course.
I pulled up to the college campus it was being hosted at, and began my trek inside. On the elevator I met a nice older gentleman. He sported a prosthetic leg and a warm smile. We exchanged a few pleasantries about the morning, and then went our separate ways when we arrived at our respective floors. As I approached the assigned classroom, I noticed multiple people standing outside the entrance. I guessed the instructor hadn’t been in to unlock it yet. We waited outside for what felt like an hour before the gentleman I met in the elevator began hobbling up to us. “Sorry, guys,” he stated, “I had a hard time finding someone able to unlock the door.” A university staff member followed behind him, unlocking it for us, and then disappeared back down the hallway.
We filtered into the doorway, and picked our seats. I found myself at the back of the class, I wanted to be able to just kind of dilly dally and not pay attention. That was the only way I could feasibly see myself surviving the four hours. The man introduced himself as a retired highway patrol officer for the state that we reside in. I can’t quite remember his name, so we’re going to call him Jeff. I rolled my eyes. I had particularly bitter feelings about our highway patrol officers, afterall, it was one of them who had given me my big ticket. The officer who had pulled me over hadn’t been particularly kind either.
Jeff rattled off his roll call and then settled into his chair. He rubbed his bald head and took a big sigh. “Look,” he said “If some of you have a weak stomach, I’m sorry. But we’re going to be seeing a lot of triggering things in our class today, but they’re necessary for us to fully grasp some of these things that we need to understand.” As a healthcare employee, those types of things didn’t bug me, but I still felt a little bit uneasy.
He began his speech, and rambled on through the beginning basics of defensive driving. He took a pause before reading the bullet point about speeding on his screen. He took a deep breath before expelling his thoughts “Guys, I’ve seen a lot in my day. And I can tell you, that as cool as you think you look speeding, you are going to cost someone something dear to them if you keep it up, whether it be you, or someone else. It. Will. Happen.” He rolled up his pant leg, exposing his prosthetic leg. He then began to tell a story of a night he was on duty. He had been sitting in his squad car doing paperwork one evening when a speeding driver lost control and hit the back of his vehicle. His car slammed into a brick wall, and he had lost his leg and his ability to do his job. He was forced to retire before the end of the year.
Going through this training, I paid full attention, almost involuntarily. His stories of loss at the hands of reckless driving were gripping. He told us of his personal experience with mothers losing their babies, and babies losing their mothers, teenagers losing their lives, while others lost all they had. I sat there dumbfounded, seriously reflecting on my previous choices on the road and the risk that I had been posing to myself and others.
I walked into that class with a hard headed, smug, and ignorant mindset, and walked out regretful and pensive. I drove under the speed limit the whole way home that day. That class changed me and the way I view driving. I was really pulled out of the “it can't happen to me” mindset. To this day I obey every road law, follow every speed limit, and am mindful of what's going on around me. Additionally I now understand that driving is personal at times. When we are feeling strong emotions that can affect our decision making, we should not be behind the wheel. I always try to look out for everyone on the road in addition to myself.
I feel that had my driving instructor been like Jeff when I was getting a driver's license, It would have been an eye opener from the start. I understand that for some people it can be scary to start out learning like this, but I also feel it adds a more in-depth opportunity to see what could go wrong when driving recklessly. I feel teaching people this way from the start will help cut back on deaths related to driving and accidents related to distracted driving.