A Safe Driver Is An Educated One

My name is Taylor Morrison and I am a fourth-year undergraduate from the University of British Columbia. I am currently pursuing my dream of becoming a Medical Geneticist by studying and applying to medical school. I feel honored to be given the opportunity to apply for this scholarship for two important reasons. The first being that by having a chance to share my personal story, as well as my views on the current state of driver education, I can help inspire others to learn about the impact of unsafe driving. Secondly, this award will help me in an immeasurable way to pursue my education and advance my career as a successful healthcare professional.

For as long as I can remember, my idea of who should receive drivers ed has been limited to adolescents and new drivers just beginning their experience behind the wheel. However, recently I have felt that it should be made available to people of all ages and levels of driving. There is no age limit for academic education, and drivers ed should be no exception. This kind of education should be provided frequently throughout one’s lifetime because with time and age, people naturally fall into bad habits and lazy driving. This makes them a hazard to both themselves and those around them. If people are consistently reminded about road laws they were taught in their preliminary drivers ed courses, it would enforce them to be more cognizant about common driving errors and result in fewer accidents. Along with regular refreshers, following safety laws such as wearing a seat belt, defensive driving, and eliminating distractions will reduce one’s chances for an accident. Although these preventatives are the most common, there are others such as making sure you have enough sleep and not listening to music too loudly. These precautions are often overlooked compared to other driving habits like driving sober, one of which that has had the greatest impact on my life.

When I was just 10 months old, my mom and I were in a head on collision with a drunk driver at 9:30 am on April 24, 1999. The impact of the crash on my mom was not only physical (via shattering her ankle, breaking her sternum and hitting her face on the steering wheel) but also emotionally, mentally, and financially damaging. As for me, I received whiplash and some mild bruising from the straps of my car seat that had been moved to the back seat of the car only a week prior. Had it not been, I would have received fatal injuries as a result of the vehicle demolishing the front passenger side of the vehicle. The long-term trauma that has been inflicted on my family was at a magnitude that the drunk driver will never know, let alone understand. A single mistake that he made in the course of only a morning has had consequences that still resonates in my family’s life to this day, 21 years later.

Despite the physical pain that my mom still experiences daily, I consider us the lucky ones. The National Safety Council estimates that in 2018 alone, 40,000 people in the US died as a result of car accidents, making this the third consecutive year of at least 40,000 victims. Although I am not naive to the fact that “accidents happen”, this number astonishes me as there are many reasons for it being so high. The World Health Organization states that using a phone while driving makes one 4 times more likely to be in an accident, and that a 1% speed increase will result in a 3% increased risk of a serious crash, and a 4% increase of a fatal one. Even so, as pervasive as these two problems are, phone usage and speeding only account for a small fraction of the 40,000 deaths that plague the US annually. Other reasons such as drug-driving, lack of seatbelts, and fatigue all contribute towards this staggeringly high number.

After writing this application, I have reflected on my own driving skills and recognize that I too can do my part to ensure I am a good driver by getting rid of any potential distractions. I can also encourage others to be proactive drivers by being aware of their driving habits and exemplifying safe driving skills. I hope that my story and outlook on universal drivers education has helped others to take their driving more seriously and understand the importance of their actions on others lives.