Driver Safety: Don’t Learn It the Hard Way
Imagine this: You're 19 years old, exhausted after a long shift at the restaurant, and all you want is to get home as quickly as possible, but home is 45 minutes away if you drive the speed limit. There’s nobody on the highway, so you press down on the gas pedal, the speedometer climbs, and suddenly, you’re going 98 mph. Blue lights flash in your rearview mirror. That night, I got a $200 ticket and a court date. At my hearing, the judge gave me 6 months of parole. The court took my driver’s license and told me I could have it back when I completed my parole, presented the judge an essay on the laws around drivers my age, and took a defensive driver’s course. That court date was seven years ago, and it was my first and only ticket, my first and only run-in with the law. It was humiliating, but I learned valuable lessons through that experience. The defensive driving course taught me invaluable skills that made me a better, safer driver. Now, I'm here to share those lessons with you so you can avoid the mistakes I made and stay safe on the road.
Now, seven years later, I am a doctor of physical therapy student, and I have spent time in pediatric rehabilitation hospitals as part of my clinical. Many patients are admitted because they have suffered a loss of function due to a motor vehicle accident. When a nurse from the pediatric rehab unit tells you to “Get home safe,” she’s not just being nice. She’s telling you that because she spent the last 12 hours caring for a sixteen-year-old lacrosse player who is re-learning how to walk, and she knows how easily the same thing could happen to you. Just this past year, I was sitting on an outdoor patio at a pizza restaurant on Peachtree St. in Atlanta when a truck ran into a motorcyclist. The motorcyclist was catapulted into the bed of the truck, and we waited with the man while the ambulance came. He was rushed to Grady Hospital, barely breathing. In Atlanta alone, 30,000 motor vehicle accidents happen a year. Of these accidents, 88 people lose their lives to them each year in Atlanta. A vehicle's power and the driver’s poor use of it can turn an ordinary person into the cause of a significant tragedy.
According to the Georgia Department of Highway Safety, the three most common causes of fatal crashes are failure to yield to the right of way, overcorrecting, and improper lane usage. These deadly crashes most often involve young drivers. How can we better prepare young drivers for the responsibility of driving? One written and one practical test at sixteen cannot turn novice drivers into safe drivers. New drivers should be required to take and pass a defensive driving course to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the roads safely and responsibly. One of the primary benefits of driver education is that it prepares individuals to handle various driving conditions and scenarios and allows drivers to ask questions of a knowledgeable instructor who knows their neighborhood. For instance, in my neighborhood, there was one turn new drivers consistently hydroplaned on when the roads were slick. If a driver’s education course had been at my high school, an instructor could have advised this specific circumstance. Something along the lines of, “Driving under 35 mph can help you make the turn at Eagle Watch without hydroplaning.”
We can also use technology to make the roads safer. Before putting a teenager behind the wheel, they can practice in simulated driving experiences using virtual reality. We can encourage using apps that limit phone use when the phone detects a certain speed. We can be positive role models with our friends, modeling responsible behavior and discouraging bad behavior. For example, My PT school cohort is a very loving and accepting community. Still, when someone in the group chat sent a message that was worded strangely and then explained their typo by saying they were driving, the class president disliked the message. The person did not send another in the group text until they arrived at their destination.
I only thought of myself when I was 19, driving 98 miles per hour. Now, I realize the risk I was placing on myself and anyone around me. I am incredibly grateful I did not have to learn that lesson the hard way, but one person realizing the error of their ways is not enough. Making our roads safer is on all of us. At the State level, we citizens can advocate for better new driver education. On an interpersonal level, we can check in with our community to ensure our friends, family, and neighbors practice safe driving. On a personal level, we can self-monitor our driving, being mindful of our safety and those around us.