My
birthday is late when compared to my friends. So, I watched in
excitement as they all turned fifteen and got their permits. I heard
stories of their first attempts at driving, being thrown out into the
world like birds from the nest. Then I turned fifteen and I too got
my permit. But it was different. My mom wasn’t so keen to get in a
car with me behind the wheel. With no real explanation, a year passed
by and I still hadn’t done as much as touched a gas pedal. Once
again, I watched, this time enviously, as my friends took their
driving test, coming to school late with a fresh new license in hand.
I pleaded with my mother almost every day to let me drive, I was
desperate for the chance to learn. But the response was always the
same. I was quickly shut down and the topic was changed.


As the bus shuffled me to school,
I sat dreaming up ways to fix my license-less life. Finally, the
solution came to me­–a talk (revolutionary for a teenager!)
with my mother could clear up all the conflict around my license.
Casually I brought up the idea of driving, and got the usual
response. Persistent, I inquired further to see exactly why I was
being barred from driving. Surprisingly, my mother began detailing a
car crash she was in when she herself was a teenager. The driver was
her friend, a young driver who was simply uneducated about the
importance of road safety. For my mom, letting me drive equated to
letting me get hurt. I was shocked to hear this, and a wave of guilt
lead my face to flush. I had been so stubborn and not once tried to
understand my mother’s concerns. Never had I considered how
stressful driving must be for a parent.
Out
of this talk came a compromise­–drivers ed. A local school
was hosting a program that taught a comprehensive course on all
aspects of driving. I learned both how to operate a vehicle and road
safety skills. The importance of alert driving was drilled into me,
and the testimonies of those who had lost loved ones due to unsafe
driving stuck with me far long after I finished the course.
Eventually, I got my license, due mostly to the drivers ed course.
I was able to take lessons I learned to my friends, setting an
example for when they drove with me. We all have a rule now–if the
driver touches her phone, she has to give everyone in the car a
dollar. In this way, we are able to hold each other accountable, and
foster good driving habits. Waiting for my license allowed me to
fully understand how much responsibility it is to get behind the
wheel. Alert driving is necessary for everyone on the road to make it
home safe, back to their mothers, who are almost certainly nervously
waiting for their arrival.