Becoming a Driver

Recently, I became a new driver. My first moment on the road,as I sat in the driver’s seat with my hands on the wheel with my hands on the wheel, aided me in realizing that I’ve entered a new terrain. This epiphany perplexed me as it was the same path that my parents have driven in the past, just a new perspective. While driving, I noticed the rhythm of the road, who went when who stopped, who turned when who went straight, all the clear rules of the road that I never truly paid attention to. Driving was a board game that I needed to know every rule of because tragedies on the road have wrecked lives.

Entering driving school was the least I could do to ensure that I would not cause a deadly situation in that board game. My instructor guided me through the basics of the road and rules that he reveals that not many people follow. I was surprised to find out that when merging into a lane, the driver in the lane that is merging in should put on their indicator. Now, the surprise certainly didn’t arise from the fact that it is a rule but more from the fact that I’ve never seen anyone do it, unless there was road work near. I can imagine that many young drivers believe that is the only time to turn on your indicator when merging. Experiences drivers tend to to abide by rules only when they deem it as necessary but for new drivers, that looks like the law. Following experienced drivers can lead to new drivers getting into accidents because they don’t have the kind of discretion. This is why drivers ed is important; new drivers may cause an accident by acting like an experienced driver.

During my four lessons, I’ve learned the essentials that could help me steer away from being in an accident and many started before the car started. They started from the basics such as ensuring that all passengers have their seat belts buckled to restrain the passenger's body in case of an accident. Further research showed that 14,955 lives were saved by passengers using seat belts in 2017 alone. He also told me that, if at all possible, to refrain from when I feel especially tired. This struck a chord with me as my mother and I met in an accident on a fourway on a day where my mother was especially tired from work. Knowing that these steps are merely the first of many to take when driving a car made me attentive of the road.

With a new sense of confidence and excitement, I left the driving school with my license and a promise: to be the safest driver possible.

Sources

https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-accident/defective-products/seat-belts/seat-belts-statistics.html