You pass your driving test, they hand you your license. That small, rectangle piece of plastic is often seen as a golden ticket to freedom. Although isn’t it much more than that? For teenagers, like myself, it is seen through our eyes as independence, the ability to escape the parents' rules, and the amazing experience of being behind the wheel. However, this perspective through teenagers overrules the critical reality. A drivers license is far more than a plastic piece of freedom; it’s a responsibility bigger than others we have at the age of 16, it’s a responsibility and commitment that requires respect, great caution, and constant attention.
I believe that teen driver safety is such a critical public issue due to the high rates of accidents and fatalities involving young drivers. Driver’s Education plays such a huge role in addressing safety, because we are all required to take the permit test and drivers test which is supposed to be teaching us safety. Before my permit test, I repeatedly took the practice test, trying to memorize all the questions and correct answers. Once I passed my permit test and was able to drive with an adult, I soon realized it was going to be way more work than memorizing the answers to pass the test. Driver’s education is what teaches us the safety and rules of driving in order to prepare us for the roads. Our six month period of driving with an adult is a rule from the DMV which is driver’s education. This six month period gives us the chance and freedom to work on our driving to prepare us for our final test and then driving by ourselves safely. Driver’s Education is where we get our knowledge and practice.
As a teenager passing your test, you then start to drive with friends. Once you're comfortable driving, you then get testy and add your phone into the mix of driving. When you get your license, there are big challenges that often interfere with the safety precautions you should be taking. When I was new with my license, I instantly wanted to drive around with my friends instead of depending on our parents to drive us. When you get your friends into the car, you could start experiencing peer-pressure such as violating speed limits, doing things you know are illegal while driving. Being peer-pressured can often be a cause of not driving safely, because most teenagers would much rather seem “cool” to friends, rather than following the correct precautions. Distractions also take your focus away from the road. When I am driving down the road and I hear my phone go off, I instantly want to pick it up to text my friends back. Texting while driving may seem “cool” but you can take your eyes off the road for one minute and in that one minute you could get into a tragic accident. Ways to overcome these challenges is to remind yourself frequently what could happen by feeding into the distractions. The last challenge teens may face, from personal experience, would be lack of experience in certain weather. If you do not have practice in snow or rain, you may not know what to do when that weather comes and you are by yourself. What I recommend to face this challenge is during your six month permit practice, try to drive in all weather conditions while with an adult so you're not facing it alone.
Looking back on a personal experience I have had, it helps me see how important it is to have experience driving in all weather conditions. We were on our way home from work, I was in the passenger seat and my brother was driving. We were coming down a windy mountain and it was storming to the point we could barely see. My brother has never driven in this bad of rain and his arm was in a sling from surgery, but we figured we could keep driving to make it home on time. We hydroplaned. What do we do in this situation? My brother had a lack of experience driving in this bad of rain, he could only use one hand to drive. There was no way to control it after we had started sliding. We grazed a telephone pole, barely missed a tree, spun in circles across the road, and smashed into a ditch. My father’s car was totaled. I often look back and reflect on this situation. Had he known what to do in this situation and was driving with both hands, would we have totaled my dads vehicle? This incident can show anybody that lack of experience and a distraction from anything can cause damage. We were lucky to get out of the car with only some bruises and scratches.
There are various actions teens can take to prevent unsafe driving. Teens can practice, follow the rules, and pay attention to the road. Don’t let friends, phones, etc. distract you from your driving. Schools can provide driving education courses that emphasize the importance. My school has a class called Driver’s Ed, taking this class you get more education and practice with your skills. The community itself can continue to practice their safe driving no matter their age. If everybody around us, including ourselves as teenagers, can practice safe driving, there could be a great decrease in driving-related accidents and fatalities.
To end my essay, I would just like to express the importance of safe driving. Not just in teenagers, but in people of all ages. As a world together, by limiting the bad challenges of driving, we can make the roads safer. As teenagers, by taking our time to learn and focus, we can decrease the accidents of teenagers driving. The role of education is vital for driving, and we are all given the chance to learn, everybody just needs to use that chance to their advantage. It is more than a plastic license in your wallet, it is a life full of responsibility and caution when you are handed it.