Driving is an important aspect of life for nearly everyone. It is a great power to travel long distances in a short amount of time while carrying cargo; however, with great power comes great responsibility. Like my driving instructor used to tell me, “you're not just driving for yourself, you're driving for others as well”. It is imperative that drivers are alert, aware of their surroundings, knowledgeable about rules of the road, and possess great reflexes. Driving is dangerous and it only takes a split second for someone’s life to be a risk. According to the tabulation of United States military casualties of war, published on Wikipedia, more Americans die in one year from auto accidents than in most wars throughout history. This data tells us that too many drivers on the road are not properly educated on how to navigate and handle the heavy machinery. Thus making it clear that we as a society need to create better solutions and policy involving vehicles and driving.

Teenagers today must be the change in the world by making better decisions. The auto death toll has declined drastically over the years, since 1974. Partly because of policy changes and partly because of innovative technology that has made driving safer for everyone. However, according to the BMW Law group, “Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States” and teen accident rates are significantly higher than all other driving groups. This is a public safety issue because a teen’s bad decision doesn’t just affect them, it affects everyone they come in contact with on the road. Lives are at stake here!

Teenagers face many obstacles that affect their ability to be good drivers.



Lack of money: Not being able to afford a quality vehicle can make it difficult for teenagers to have safe equipment. Additionally, this makes vehicle maintenance an issue for them. Poor quality vehicles definitely affect a person’s safe driving.


Lack of car knowledge: Most drivers training classes don’t teach young people how to maintain a car and what is most important such as: brakes, battery, oil, transmission, and tires.


Distractions: Many teens today have palm pilots, or cell phones, that are addictive and difficult for them to detach from. Furthermore, friends, eating, and radio selecting can all be distractions that teens may encounter while driving.


Lack of experience: Good drivers have experience on the road and know how to handle certain situations and can even predict another driver's movements based on their analysis. Young drivers lack experiences that can help them make safe decisions.



There is a freeway in my hometown that causes many auto accidents. Almost everyday, the news reports a major traffic jam due to an auto accident on this freeway, in a particular area. Most of the accidents are severe. Within my first year of driving, I had to take this freeway to work every morning. I usually traveled early to avoid the potential traffic. However, I almost crashed on this freeway for two reasons: the turn on the freeway is too sharp for the speed limit. Second, the entrance ramp is too short and emerging cars have little time to catch up to the flow of traffic. People who take this freeway daily already know to slow down at that brief point but I did not because I lacked experience and there are no warning signs.

Though there have been many changes to make driving safer over the years, much is still to be done. Many telecommunication companies have upgraded both the software and hardware on cell phones to include a safe driving feature. When traveling at high speeds, some phones limit the features available for use and send the user warnings to avoid cell use while driving. Additionally, Siri and Alexa can be used to help drivers change the radio and music without needing to take their eyes off of the road. Tesla is the first self-driving car that has technology to help young people avoid accidents. Many car companies are going electric and incorporating smart technology to help make driving safer for everyone.

However, in spite of societal efforts to make driving safer, there are still important things to consider when giving a teenager a license to drive. Teens need cheap solutions for safe vehicle selections. Many young people can’t afford a new car and opt out for used cars that could potentially have major issues with the brakes, the power steering, and more. Teenagers should always reach out to supportive adults when making vehicle purchase decisions. Also, it may be a good idea to add an age requirement of 18 for specific vehicle purchasing. Also, teenagers should avoid peer pressure and driving with large groups of peers. Driving a one or two seated car can help teenagers avoid peer pressure. Lastly, there needs to be more advanced drivers training courses that are mandatory for all teens to take. Making it part of the state curriculum can be helpful. Additionally, there needs to be more tests put in place associated with getting a license to determine a person’s ability to handle split decisions and make safe choices.

Launching a ‘Drive Safe” campaign for young people in every public school throughout the USA will help teens understand the importance of safe driving on a deeper level. Publishing commercials with celebrities sharing how they drive safely will make young people desire safe driving as well. Holding assemblies with cops, professional drivers, and accident survivors will make safe driving feel more cool and bad driving seem lame or uncool. Equipping young people with safe ways to remove themselves from unsafe driving situations will cut down the teen death toll caused by auto accidents. Large posters from the campaign can be placed in the schools and over the parking lots. Encouraging teens as young as 15 to write about the Safe Driving topic for prize money is very important and should be mandatory for all schools in the country. Young people should understand that they are pilots and leaders when they are behind the wheel and possessing vehicle handles, making calculated smart decisions, and having car knowledge is far more important and cool than speed.

Can you make a smooth stop without jerking forward? Making teens drive with an egg on the beach seat will help them improve their handles and motor skills. Can you predict exactly how long a light might be red based on the time of day, the type of street, and the area? Making teens cruise to a traffic light rather than stepping on the gas during drivers training can help them slow down and avoid accidents. Do you have enough space in-between you in the car in front of you to avoid an accident in case of an abrupt stop or pile up? Teaching teens the three second rule will help them have more time to react to potential accidents. How good are the breaks on your vehicle? How good is your transmission, shocks, tire, alignment, steering, ect? Teaching young people proper car maintenance can help them avoid brake failure, tire blowouts, and more. Lastly, everyone behind the wheel should lead by example by:



not riding other driver’s tails, attempting to intimidate them to speed up but instead utilizing the passing lanes to get around slow drivers


Choosing the correct lane to drive in based on speed, fast or passing lane versus the slow and turning lane


Exercising patients when pedestrians are crossing the roads


Stopping at red lights, stop signs, and yields


Yielding to cars merging onto the freeway versus racing to get in front of them


Knowing to yield to the first arriving care or the right car at a 4 way stop