Drive Safety: Wise Words from Nonno

Joseph Campione

November 30, 2019

In the Driver’s Seat Scholarship

“Drive Safety”: Wise Words from Nonno

Whenever my family is gathered at the home of my Italian grandparents, Nonna and Nonno, we enjoy delicious pasta meals and conversations about their past experiences in their home country. When our time spent at their house is nearing its end, each and every person is guaranteed a goodbye hug and kiss from both grandparents, but specifically each person who is getting behind the wheel of a car parts off with two words from Nonno: “Drive Safety”. The use of safety is indeed not a typo, just a quirk in my grandfather’s speech.

In my home-state of Florida, there is no law that requires you to receive driver’s education prior to earning your driver’s license. I believe there is a correlation in regard to new drivers and the car accidents they get into. I genuinely think that if quality drivers ed was provided to all newly licensed drivers, their death tolls would significantly decline. I would consider myself a seasoned driver after my 4 years of getting behind the wheel because of all of the courses and firsthand experience I learned from at the beginning of my driving career. After all of that, I know to have my full attention on the road around me and am experienced enough to maneuver and essentially avoid any hazards that present a danger to myself and my passengers while other drivers who aren’t may freeze up and collide in the same situation causing serious injury or fatalities because of their inexperience. There are a lot of ways to reduce the number of accidents and driving related deaths and that comes down to properly being taught to drive offensively and defensively. A smart way to do this would be the creation of a more advanced computer simulation that would let drivers in training see and take part in factors that cause deadly accidents such as: impairment due to drug or alcohol use, and distractions from the usage of a cell phone. The simulation should include different angles of impact in which accidents happen in order to teach the users to be defensive and aware from all perspectives. I wholeheartedly believe something like this could prevent more new drivers from getting into avoidable car accidents.

At the age of 13, I was unfortunately involved in a high-speed yet avoidable rear end collision on the interstate that was caused by a driver who was distracted by her phone. Thankfully everyone involved was okay, but the car of the other driver was totaled. I am grateful to have learned to be a safe driver at such a young age and am proud of the fact that I am trusted behind the wheel. A couple of things I would recommend to future and newly licensed drivers to help them become safer would be to: take a course taught by a professional, pull over if you have to use your cell phone, and most importantly, be aware of your surroundings and “drive safety”!