My driver training consisted of a 5-hour seminar in a local church and 9 hours of driving around. Technically, I drove over 40 hours with my parents and they taught me how to drive, but I only had 14 hours of official training. Those without the time or access to figures to teach them could enroll in Drivers Education in school, but that takes away from classroom learning. Why would you give up a slot you could use for a graduation requirement on Drivers Education when you could simply fake your driving requirements? The lackadaisical approach South Carolina takes toward informing drivers and giving underprivileged individuals access to an invaluable skill is causing constant damage and hurting hundreds of people, both physically and mentally.
I began learning to drive at 15 years old. It’s the standard age for South Carolina. My first (and only) car is a 2007 manual Volkswagen Bug. Having learned to drive on a manual, many of my peers think I’m a great driver, much better than the average South Carolinian. It makes sense considering almost 70% of drivers in South Carolina fail their permit test on the first try. It could result from poor preparation or laziness, but I think it stems from a generational casual approach to driving. People often forget that every time you get behind the wheel you are endangering yourself and all others on the road.
Driving has become monotonous. You get in the car to go to work, to go to the store, to go to a friend’s house. Maybe you pass a crash on the way, maybe you don’t. Either way, you’d forget about it a few hours later. Unless it happened to you. Before I could drive, I rode my bicycle everywhere. School, soccer practice, the store, and as many places as my bike could take me. I saw countless crashes. A work truck slammed into the back of a G-Wagon, a minivan wrapped around a tree, and a Prius sideswiping an electrical pole. The likelihood that these crashes originated from distracted driving is high. The man who hit me with his car as I was crossing the street on my bike was distracted.
In a school zone, the speed limit is brought down significantly when the lights are blinking. Blinking lights didn’t deter the middle-aged man from speeding, however. They didn’t deter him from fleeing after he checked that I was alive. I was incredibly lucky that day that my peers with cars had seen me get hit and they were able to take me and my broken bicycle home. Had I called the police, that man may have been in jail. I still feel the effects of that hit today. It wasn’t hard enough to kill me but it was plenty hard enough to scare me. It showed me that not everyone grew up the same way I have. I could never imagine hitting someone and running. I could never imagine being a distracted driver or not wearing my seatbelt. However, these morals stem from my upbringing, not my education.
To effectively improve the roads, we must reform education surrounding driving. It cannot be considered a game or a low-pressure pastime. The importance of paying attention and keeping focused must be stressed more frequently and those who actively endanger others in multi-ton vehicles should be given more than a slap on the wrist. Going 5 miles per hour above the speed limit is customary in most places, and you probably won’t get pulled over for it. Anything more aggressive is frowned upon, but whether you get punished is up to the discretion of a police officer.
The most famous highway in the world is located in Germany. Called the Autobahn, this highway has no speed limit, because it doesn’t need one. Not because the people there are inherently better at driving, but because their driver's education system is radically different than the States. Their regulations are much harsher and it is much easier to be stripped of your license. Speeding is heavily punished and using your phone is considered equal to driving while over double the legal limit of alcohol in your system. Germans are trusted to use their judgment on the Autobahn because the government knows they have been set up to have good judgment by the education system. In the United States, judgment is instilled by an “authorized adult” per the SCDMV. This adult may be the worst driver in the world, but so long as they keep a license, they can teach the new generation to drive. It is no wonder driving casualties are up all things considered.
I believe driver’s education is crucial to road safety and while I cannot speak for other states, I know that learning to drive in South Carolina can leave a lot to the imagination. Many measures can be taken to make the roads and cars safer, but the root issue must be addressed. The people make the calls at the end of the day. People who may not even be licensed or have health conditions that should prevent them from driving. I’m sure other applicants will suggest gadgets and gizmos to improve safety without seeing that the main problem is the people in the cars. The problem is your 80-year-old grandmother who cannot see the road in front of her or the Porche drivers who think because their car is fast they deserve to speed past you going 20 over. The problem is the man who didn’t follow the school speed limit and hit the 14-year-old on a crosswalk. Safety is a mentality and millions of people have gotten too comfortable thinking driving is a right, not a privilege. I’m tired of seeing death on the sides of the road because people didn’t care enough to prevent it.