As I drive down 39th Avenue, I look in the rearview mirror of my sedan and notice the car behind me that has been steadily closing the gap between us is now so close that I can no longer see its headlights. I look at the cars around me, and then glance at my speedometer: Everybody else around me sure is whizzing by… Am I obstructing traffic? Did I drop below the 45 miles-per-hour speed limit on that uphill? And then I realize that it’s not me—the speeding problem has gotten so bad that on the main roads, everybody drives 10, 15, or even 20 miles per hour over the speed limit. It has become such a norm to speed that cars driving the appropriate speed get dangerously tailgated, and consequently, sometimes rear-ended too. About once a week now, I open Facebook or the news and see photos of the aftermath of fatal car crashes, glass sprayed across the concrete and metal crunched beyond recognition. This is reflective of a larger trend of irresponsible driving I’ve noticed in my city, one that weighs on me constantly, but that I hadn’t really noticed the stress of, until going to see my grandparents this summer.
Visiting their city, one of retirees and beachgoing tourists, always means being greeted by a plethora of palm trees, the smell of salt, and blissfully, leisurely slow traffic on sunbaked streets. Exiting I-75 and no longer feeling the pressure to hurry, hurry, hurry is always such a relief. The sleepy suburbs invite me to take a step back from the rush of my college town.
After my arrival at my grandparents, I open the fridge to pour a glass of Papa’s sweet tea, and I greet a familiar resident at the back of the top shelf. It’s a glass Corona bottle, adorned with pipe-cleaner antlers, googly eyes, and a pom-pom red nose to look like a reindeer. It’s been sitting there, unopened, for as long as I can remember, a relic of my late uncle. A different weight settles onto my shoulders. Nobody talks about him much, except for the occasional teasing comment from my grandmother: you’re so rebellious for getting those tattoos, I never liked tattoos much, except for the ones he got because they were just so beautiful, yours look a lot like his; your new dog looks just like his did—Chey-Chey was a sweetheart but man, she ate everything she could get her paws on! He was killed by a drunk driver a month before my second birthday, so I don’t remember him anymore, but he has nonetheless shaped me forever. I think about my uncle every time I double-check for motorcycles before turning, every time I offer my couch to a houseguest that wants to go home but has had too much to drink, and every time I see that Corona bottle in the back of my grandparents’ fridge.
When I turned 15 and began studying for my learner’s permit, I thought about him then too, and about the 14-year-old girl in my hometown that died in another drunk-driving related crash just a few years earlier. The course for my learner’s permit was the last formal education that I completed before getting my license, because the state of Florida does not require a driver’s education course to get a license, just a learner’s permit and a road test. I worry about what this means for teenagers whose parents work long hours, or night shifts, or have young children, who don’t get much of a chance to practice driving skills, ask questions, or review material learned before the learner’s permit. Driver’s education is a chance to teach new drivers about the dangers of drunk driving and reckless driving, and it’s a chance to hone the skill of safe, defensive driving so that by the time it is being done alone, it is already a habit. My parents taught me defensive driving, and it has singlehandedly saved my life multiple times in the last month. Waiting just a second and looking both ways before proceeding at a green light, not pulling out in front of cars without sufficient space to accelerate, and keeping extra space between my car and the one ahead of me—it seems like it isn’t worth the time, until the one time that you are able to narrowly avoid a crash because of it. I am acutely aware of just how serious car accidents can be, and how much this danger is amplified by adding a motorcycle, an unrestrained passenger, drugs or alcohol, or an uninformed driver to the equation. Driver’s education is important because it could save the life of every new driver.
As every freshly licensed 16-year-old knows, driving is the ultimate freedom: you can go wherever you want, whenever you want! However, this also means having the freedom to make some really poor choices, and the responsibility not to. Driver’s education is an opportunity to steer (pun intended) new drivers in the right direction, and it can offer them a different kind of freedom: peace of mind. Driving means making hundreds of split-second decisions every minute, decisions that are significantly easier when they’re being made for the twentieth time instead of the first. One of the first things my dad taught me when I was learning to drive: “Make a decision and be predictable—indecisive driving is dangerous driving.” Aside from practice itself (which is also important), the confidence that comes from just knowing you’re making the right decision and committing to it will in and of itself make you a better driver.
My little brother is a few years away from learning to drive, and I sincerely hope that he attends driver’s education. In the short term, I can serve as a good example for him: although I already think of myself as a pretty safe driver, I can always do better, starting with keeping my music quieter and ignoring my impulse to check my phone at red lights. Once the time comes, I will be taking every opportunity I get to practice driving with him and pass on as many safety skills as I can. Update your emergency contact in Florida’s TIFF (To Inform Families First) system. Pay attention to everything going on around you. Look both ways, then look again, even when you have the right of way. If you aren’t absolutely sure that it is safe to proceed, stay where you are and do not let other drivers pressure you into a decision you know is unsafe. Never assume another driver on the road has your safety in mind or that a pedestrian is paying attention to your vehicle. Wear your seatbelt and restrain your pets, no matter what. Check twice for motorcycles and bicycles. Put your phone down. Keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. Be careful in the rain (this is a big one in Florida thunderstorms!). Obey the speed limit. And lastly, never, ever drive under the influence or get in a vehicle with someone who is. These tactics save my life every day, they could’ve saved my uncle’s, and they will someday save my little brother’s. Nothing is more dangerous than an unaware, uninformed driver. Every new driver has the power to be a conscious, informed, defensive driver, and that starts with driver’s education.
Visiting their city, one of retirees and beachgoing tourists, always means being greeted by a plethora of palm trees, the smell of salt, and blissfully, leisurely slow traffic on sunbaked streets. Exiting I-75 and no longer feeling the pressure to hurry, hurry, hurry is always such a relief. The sleepy suburbs invite me to take a step back from the rush of my college town.
After my arrival at my grandparents, I open the fridge to pour a glass of Papa’s sweet tea, and I greet a familiar resident at the back of the top shelf. It’s a glass Corona bottle, adorned with pipe-cleaner antlers, googly eyes, and a pom-pom red nose to look like a reindeer. It’s been sitting there, unopened, for as long as I can remember, a relic of my late uncle. A different weight settles onto my shoulders. Nobody talks about him much, except for the occasional teasing comment from my grandmother: you’re so rebellious for getting those tattoos, I never liked tattoos much, except for the ones he got because they were just so beautiful, yours look a lot like his; your new dog looks just like his did—Chey-Chey was a sweetheart but man, she ate everything she could get her paws on! He was killed by a drunk driver a month before my second birthday, so I don’t remember him anymore, but he has nonetheless shaped me forever. I think about my uncle every time I double-check for motorcycles before turning, every time I offer my couch to a houseguest that wants to go home but has had too much to drink, and every time I see that Corona bottle in the back of my grandparents’ fridge.
When I turned 15 and began studying for my learner’s permit, I thought about him then too, and about the 14-year-old girl in my hometown that died in another drunk-driving related crash just a few years earlier. The course for my learner’s permit was the last formal education that I completed before getting my license, because the state of Florida does not require a driver’s education course to get a license, just a learner’s permit and a road test. I worry about what this means for teenagers whose parents work long hours, or night shifts, or have young children, who don’t get much of a chance to practice driving skills, ask questions, or review material learned before the learner’s permit. Driver’s education is a chance to teach new drivers about the dangers of drunk driving and reckless driving, and it’s a chance to hone the skill of safe, defensive driving so that by the time it is being done alone, it is already a habit. My parents taught me defensive driving, and it has singlehandedly saved my life multiple times in the last month. Waiting just a second and looking both ways before proceeding at a green light, not pulling out in front of cars without sufficient space to accelerate, and keeping extra space between my car and the one ahead of me—it seems like it isn’t worth the time, until the one time that you are able to narrowly avoid a crash because of it. I am acutely aware of just how serious car accidents can be, and how much this danger is amplified by adding a motorcycle, an unrestrained passenger, drugs or alcohol, or an uninformed driver to the equation. Driver’s education is important because it could save the life of every new driver.
As every freshly licensed 16-year-old knows, driving is the ultimate freedom: you can go wherever you want, whenever you want! However, this also means having the freedom to make some really poor choices, and the responsibility not to. Driver’s education is an opportunity to steer (pun intended) new drivers in the right direction, and it can offer them a different kind of freedom: peace of mind. Driving means making hundreds of split-second decisions every minute, decisions that are significantly easier when they’re being made for the twentieth time instead of the first. One of the first things my dad taught me when I was learning to drive: “Make a decision and be predictable—indecisive driving is dangerous driving.” Aside from practice itself (which is also important), the confidence that comes from just knowing you’re making the right decision and committing to it will in and of itself make you a better driver.
My little brother is a few years away from learning to drive, and I sincerely hope that he attends driver’s education. In the short term, I can serve as a good example for him: although I already think of myself as a pretty safe driver, I can always do better, starting with keeping my music quieter and ignoring my impulse to check my phone at red lights. Once the time comes, I will be taking every opportunity I get to practice driving with him and pass on as many safety skills as I can. Update your emergency contact in Florida’s TIFF (To Inform Families First) system. Pay attention to everything going on around you. Look both ways, then look again, even when you have the right of way. If you aren’t absolutely sure that it is safe to proceed, stay where you are and do not let other drivers pressure you into a decision you know is unsafe. Never assume another driver on the road has your safety in mind or that a pedestrian is paying attention to your vehicle. Wear your seatbelt and restrain your pets, no matter what. Check twice for motorcycles and bicycles. Put your phone down. Keep a safe distance from the car in front of you. Be careful in the rain (this is a big one in Florida thunderstorms!). Obey the speed limit. And lastly, never, ever drive under the influence or get in a vehicle with someone who is. These tactics save my life every day, they could’ve saved my uncle’s, and they will someday save my little brother’s. Nothing is more dangerous than an unaware, uninformed driver. Every new driver has the power to be a conscious, informed, defensive driver, and that starts with driver’s education.
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Steering Toward Safety: The Transformative Power of Driver Education
Emma Zinkowski
