When I was fifteen, all I could think about was driving. I loved cars growing up and I was just so close to having my own to enjoy. It was also my ticket to freedom; I wouldn’t have to beg my parents or friends for rides everywhere or pay twenty bucks for an uber. Before we went to the MVA to get a learner’s permit, my parents gave me a reality check that I should have already known, but it still caught me off guard. They told me that I should be careful (for obvious reasons) and that they had to teach me to drive defensively because everyone else was just as much of a risk. Why? Shouldn’t everyone else just be worried about themselves and then we will all be safe? In my five years of driving experience I have learned more than I ever considered beforehand.
For one, driving requires one hundred percent focus. Just driving by yourself with no one else on the road requires full attention. You need to pay attention to your speed, placement on the road, road conditions, and whatever else is on the dashboard related to the car itself. Knowing the feel of the gas and brake pedal and keeping your hands in the right spot on the steering wheel are crucial to avoid and correct miscalculations. Nowadays there are things like lane assist and adaptive cruise control to prevent those mistakes, but they are never perfect and everyone needs to know how to drive before letting a computer do it. Learning the size and shape of the car is probably the most difficult part of driving. You can’t just look down at the road and see how close you are to the white and yellow lines, you need to get a feel for it in a parking lot. Sometimes you can see the back wheels in the mirror, but most cars have smaller mirrors to see what is behind you, not next to you.
Nothing in that last paragraph even references other drivers. Over two thirds of people in the US have cars so you’ll rarely be alone on the road. Traffic adds a whole other dimension to driving and awareness. You need to know where everyone is and what they are doing. Blind spots are always large enough for another car to hide in and can be devastating when changing lanes and merging. You have to use turn signals to warn others of where you are headed and pay attention to theirs. The same goes for brake lights, which you don’t have to worry about on your own car unless something is horribly wrong and it needs to be fixed. Paying attention to how others are driving illustrates that not everyone follows the rules or is a good driver. Repairs and insurance aren’t cheap for either party, so you are still responsible for seeing what is going on and avoiding accidents. Everything on the road is relevant; bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists and random trash share the road equally and everything can make you crash in some way or another
Distracted driving is most likely the reason for the recent relapse of car crashes. The industry boom of smart devices over the last fifteen years has managed to capture people’s attention at all times including when driving. Despite texting while driving being a crime, most people still do it regularly. With the integration of smart systems into the dashboard of most new cars, the risk is much higher. Yes, there are warnings when you turn the car on and you can’t type while driving, but everything else is still there and pressing “I agree” or “Okay” while you are still parked is just a nuisance. When my brother hit a deer with his first car, he did everything correctly. He managed to keep the car on the road, exited safely, and called our parents and a tow truck because the safety systems wouldn’t let him drive again. However, the car was still fixable, and he planned to replace the front end panels and the airbags to get it back on the road. That never happened because while waiting on the side of the road with a flashlight to warn drivers around the bend, a jeep hit the car at full speed. The driver was texting while driving and going five over, completely ignoring the flashlight and totaling my brother’s car. Her phone actually put a crack in the gauge cluster, and she nearly broke her wrist in the impact. All of this could have been prevented by just putting the phone down.
Driving etiquette is another troubling factor. So many people either get road rage or think they are above everything else and ignore everything else. If I had a dollar for every time I narrowly avoided an accident with someone who thought rules don’t apply to them, I may not be applying for this scholarship. Some people tailgate on one lane roads or in traffic to intimidate others into speeding up or moving out of the way. The day after I got my license I was driving to school and was tailgated by someone easily less than six inches from my bumper. I was counting the ribs in his silverado grill and praying he didn’t just push me through the next roundabout. The beltway around Baltimore is notorious for inconsiderate drivers who don’t use turn signals or check their blind spots. There is another level for those who cut up traffic and hit triple digits at rush hour. There is a crash and subsequent traffic jam at least once a week and cops line the road to stop everyone from speeding down the shoulder.
Driver’s education was pretty underwhelming for me and needs a rework. This may be because I did it all during lockdown, but I didn’t really learn anything from it. All I remember was going over the basics of the car, adjusting mirrors, and if I do anything wrong or illegal I’m going to die. No one addressed evasive maneuvers or the geometry of parking and staying between the lines. Every day we would just watch a video on how someone died or the death statistics of common mistakes. Nothing was even related to being aware or techniques and vehicle dynamics to be a good driver. It seemed like a two week class of fear mongering to scare everyone into being a good driver, which apparently just means never looking down and keeping your foot on the brake pedal. I also had a questionable instructor for the driving lessons. One time he forgot to tell me to take a turn and as I was telling him I was going to turn around in the next driveway he stomped on his brake, putting my face in the steering wheel and brake checking the SUV behind us. Needless to say, I’m a little disappointed with the driver’s ed experience.
For one, everyone should know the dynamics of their own vehicles. Knowing the drivetrain is crucial in slippery conditions and regaining traction. If you step on the brakes they will do something, but they won’t slow you down if you are already sliding. They should also teach how and when to swerve in an emergency situation. Once again, brakes aren’t always a good option. Of course you should be aware of where you are going to swerve, but you should be able to do it without rolling or sliding. The moose test is a great exercise for this albeit with some more space between the lines. Overall the curriculum needs to focus more on the actual driving than just scaring everyone. I’m not sure what is in the driver’s test because I also took that during covid and was told to pull into a parking spot three times and not run a stop sign. Apparently they went back to road tests, so that is amazing. If driver’s education was more focused on driving skills and etiquette, I believe the newest generation of drivers will be much safer.