I grew up in the country. That means I grew up driving tractors, quads, and even old hay trucks. I felt fairly comfortable driving so I felt like I was “taking” drivers education classes to fulfill an obligation not to actually learn anything new. Was I ever wrong.
There are so many nuances to driving that go beyond knowing how to start, turn, or back up your vehicle. If we start with city driving; there, the maneuvers seem to be quicker with people moving in and out of lanes quickly, always looking for the ever elusive parking spot. There are also many more pedestrians to watch out for. There are one way streets, turn only lanes, bus only lanes, and narrow streets. During my Driver’s Education course, I was not only exposed to all of these situations, but my instructor remained calm, and if I needed, offered me guidance. In Longview, Washington where I took my Driver’s Education class, there is a round-about in the middle of the city that is five lanes wide with at least six options for drivers! We went around that round-about at least 50 times over the course of my class.
Once you get through city driving, there is Interstate driving where drivers need to reach the flow of traffic speed, in my case 70 MPH and merge with vehicles already moving at freeway speed. Many of the drivers who I know assumed that it was those drivers that needed to watch out for and move over for merging traffic. I learned in Driver’s Education that those drivers are not obligated to move over at all. They can if they would like to be courteous, but it is all on the merging driver to enter traffic safely. One of the biggest issues is merging drivers entering the flow of traffic moving too slowly. They are picking up speed, but picking it up too slowly. My instructor made sure everyone in my class understood that it was our responsibility, as the merging drivers, to enter the freeway safely. We were taught to look over our shoulder, use our mirrors, signal, and look again. My instructor taught us about the “blind spot” in a vehicle. Every vehicle has them and they are a bit different in every car or truck. I think as drivers get more comfortable, they get more complacent. I see many older drivers merging onto the freeway without looking over their shoulder, using only their mirror, and not checking their blind spot.
One of the most impactful things we did in my class was watch a video on a terrible car crash caused by distracted driving. That video was so horrific that it left a big impression on me. I do NOT use my phone while driving. I noticed that most beginning drivers did not have their phone anywhere near their hands while driving, but I also noticed that many more experienced drivers did. Some even used their phone while driving, briefly, but they were on it. I did some research and the data shows that in 2023, 135 people died due to distracted driving in Washington state where I live. This is a 36% increase in distraction-related fatalities compared to the prior years. I believe one of the ways to combat this increase in distracted driving fatalities would be to add a video that all drivers must watch before renewing their license. I think that retaking the drivers test every time you need to renew would be too expensive, too time consuming, and would meet with public resistance. But a video that people must watch to remind them of how dangerous distracted driving can be before they can renew their driver's license could be very useful.
That video had such a huge impact on me that if I ever see my family or friends take out their phone while driving, I say something about it. I have been in a very slow moving accident and fortunately no one was hurt. I learned first hand how quickly something can happen if you are distracted. While moving through an intersection, my water bottle started to roll off of the seat and I looked down to grab it before it fell. In that brief moment that I looked away at my water, the truck in front of me stopped and I ran into his hitch. It totaled my car and I was going less than 10 MPH. In front of my high school, a car was stopped waiting for traffic to pull into the school driveway. A driver looking down at their phone ran into the car without even slowing down because they were on their phone. Again, fortunately the speed limit was low so there were no serious injuries, but it just as easily could have been a horrible outcome if the speeds were greater. New drivers may have less experience but they make up for it in awareness and recent training. But it can be difficult for a younger person to confront a more experienced driver about their phone usage while driving- that is why I believe requiring all drivers to watch that video before getting their license renewed would be effective in getting all drivers to put their phones away while driving. The goal? Reducing or even eliminating distracted driving on our roads.