The first American freeway my parents ever drove on was one of the craziest freeways in the country. The traffic congestion in Los Angeles was a whole new experience after immigrating to the United States. I remember seeing a six-laned freeway with speeding cars and, later on, a traffic jam that didn’t move for hours. At the end of the traffic jam, I got a shocking view: a car was flipped over. The windows were all shattered with smoke coming out of the engine. The horror I felt was indescribable—I got anxious that this would happen to my family. Compared to my experience in South Korea, my first experience in LA seemed much harsher. In South Korea, flipped cars are not common. It seems like Americans drive differently from Koreans, which potentially leads to higher driving accidents.
Experiencing driving internationally has expanded my understanding of ways people can drive in society. For example, whereas South Korea’s minimum driving age is 18, America’s is 16. This is the result of different school and work cultures. Each US state has different drivers’ education policies. In California, students between 15.5 and 18 must get a thirty-hour driving education to receive a permit. The California DMV specifically focuses on teenagers as they are more likely to cause accidents due to immaturity and inexperience. However, South Korea requires all applicants to attend an hour of safety training and thirteen hours of driving experience to ensure that all applicants learn the basics of driving. Drivers’ education in Korea highlights how adults also need driving knowledge, as they are still new to driving and have the potential to cause accidents.
Expanding education requirements would reduce motor-fatality rates. Recognizing the economic and practical necessity of driving for most citizens, America does not set a prohibitive list of requirements for driving. Passing a written, physical test with certain hours of practicing allows citizens to get a driver’s license. However, while a low barrier to entry facilitates inclusivity for a wide range of citizens who need to drive, this ease of access also creates greater road-safety risk for drivers. Instead of being proficient and confident on roads, unsure drivers may lead to accidents or even worse, fatality.
Increasing driving awareness is not a task that any individual can do alone. However, devoting time and effort to fix the major problems threatening driving safety can significantly change society by taking defensive driving courses.
One way I can contribute to this change would be by utilizing social media. Promoting drivers’ education on social media will increase awareness on the importance of safe driving. This will decrease the amount of accidents and crashes throughout the nation. I remember when another person who had immigrated to America from South Korea posted on their blog that they are so afraid to drive on highways that they had to use alternate options like surface streets. I understood how they felt, and reading their post made me feel like part of a driving community instead of just someone out of place in California. Since social media is a vast information library constantly updated and shared among users, it’s an effective platform for improving driving safety practices across generations (but especially for teenagers). If students can access these types of driving-safety posts while scrolling, they will hopefully improve their driving habits and mentality.
Another way I can contribute is by talking to people who are important to me. Answers from experienced drivers about whether they enjoy driving varied. Students in my school tennis team told me that they used to be thrilled about how they could start being independent, no longer having to rely on their parents. However, the reality was different than what they expected. Going through driver’s ed allowed them to find out that driving is not easy. They could not speed on highways as they saw in movies, and they had to be aware of everything surrounding them. Losing focus for a single second on the road was life threatening. Older family members talked about how responsibilities follow whatever they do on the road. When I asked them if they had gotten the same education as teenage drivers, they said that it would have been beneficial. The more experience they got, the more they understood the importance of being educated about traffic laws.
I am now sixteen, fully qualified to apply for a driver’s license. Yet I still have not tested for one. I am still afraid of driving as a teenager, knowing that teenagers are twice as likely to get into an accident. Driving on the highways of Los Angeles is one challenge I would have to go through after sufficient drivers’ education and training. Road safety prevents injuries, and driver’s education is essential for road safety. If more people participate in driver’s education, maybe Los Angeles highways won’t be so frightening.