Driver's Ed in Real Life

I remember January 26, 2026, of this past year too well for the wrong reasons. I was driving with a friend in icy conditions. She was on the phone texting with her boyfriend over some argument I cannot remember. I do remember having a foreboding feeling and some of the major points from driver education about what not to do being checked off as we continued to drive. But I am a 17-year-old high school student with a fearless reputation, and part of me did not want to say anything and sound like I was parenting her. I could have driven or said something. Instead, she hit an icy patch, and the car went into multiple out-of-control spins on the highway. It seemed like a slow-motion nightmare. We ended up perpendicular to the highway and somehow were okay, until I looked up to see a gigantic truck speeding toward us with no ability to stop. With a jerk of the wheel to the right, a burst of acceleration, and a miracle, we spun to the other side of the highway, safely out of harm’s way.

After my heart rate returned to normal, I relived the situation again in my mind in slow motion. The whole scenario probably took 40 seconds. But a whole lifetime can flash before your eyes in a few seconds when you almost die. I was fortunate to learn my lesson about distracted driving without greater consequences, unlike so many others in that situation. We learned in driver education about the decreased reaction ability of a distracted driver and the increased probability of being in a car accident, never mind when it is compounded by dangerous weather conditions. I was determined to take what I learned in that moment and be safer moving forward.

Driver education is important because it gives young drivers the knowledge to recognize danger before they experience it themselves. However, my accident taught me that knowing the rules is only the first step. A safe driver also needs the confidence to speak up when someone else is making a dangerous choice. I knew texting while driving was dangerous, but I was more worried about an awkward conversation with my friend than I was about what could happen on the road. Forty seconds later, that awkward conversation seemed pretty insignificant.

I have also been a volunteer firefighter for the past year. As a volunteer, I was once assigned to direct traffic at a crash site to allow the firefighters to do their work trying to rescue the occupants of an extremely mangled car. My chief at the scene stated that many daytime accidents, especially when only one vehicle is involved, are due to distracted driving. On this particular scene, I started taking notice of the cars I was directing. I was shocked to see a fair number of drivers on their phones recording the scene as they drove by, while other cars were closely tailing slower vehicles in an effort to rush them forward. The irony was not lost on me that an accident most likely caused by unsafe driving practices was almost causing additional accidents because of similar unsafe practices. The lesson was clearly not being learned by the onlookers.

It made me think that maybe it would be good practice to require driver education classes for people with a repeated history of accidents and/or tickets. Driver education was not necessarily completed by every driver currently on the road, and those who did take it may have forgotten some of its major lessons. By requiring refresher classes for some of the more “risky” drivers on the road, we could make the highways safer for everyone. Unfortunately, the occupants of that mangled car did not survive the crash despite the best efforts of my fellow firefighters. This lesson, unfortunately, had consequences.

Driver education cannot eliminate every accident, but it can teach drivers to recognize dangerous situations before they become accidents. Learning how stopping distance changes on ice, why following distance matters, how quickly a distraction can take your eyes off the road, and how to react when a vehicle loses traction may seem like information needed only to pass a test. My experience taught me otherwise. Those lessons can become the difference between avoiding an accident and becoming part of one.

On January 26, I was sitting inside the car making the mistake of staying silent. Months later, I was standing outside a mangled car as a firefighter, watching other drivers pass the scene while making some of the same dangerous choices. Those two experiences changed the way I view driver education. It isn't just about passing a test and earning the freedom to drive. It is about understanding the responsibility that comes with controlling a vehicle capable of changing or ending someone's life in seconds.

Personally, I can put my phone away before I start driving, adjust my speed to road conditions, leave more distance between myself and other vehicles, and never assume that because I have driven safely before, nothing can happen to me. I was fortunate that my lesson ended with a frightening memory instead of a tragedy. I don't intend to need that lesson twice.