It came out of nowhere. Flew right at my windshield. In that split second I had to react, I thought for sure it was coming right through the glass and I was a goner. Miraculously, I held onto the steering wheel, hit the brakes and was able to slide into the breakdown lane. The giant chunk of metal had taken out the three cars directly in front of me on the highway but somehow I escaped it. The first car it hit was totaled, the second and third didn’t look much better either. I knew the driver of that first car, we went to high school together. I will never forget the look of shock on her face. It was dark, after 9 p.m. but the highway traffic was still heavy as I waited to speak with the officer and medical personnel that was enroute. I immediately called my Mom and told her what happened and sent her a photo of the piece of metal in question. The 3 foot by 2 foot truck part now laying on the ground it didn’t look deadly but just 5 minutes ago, it created total havoc.
When you are a young driver you hear all about being gone in an instant and how quickly someone’s life can change behind the wheel but its easy to brush that off when you are a teenager. You always think it will never happen to you or someone you love. Oftentimes you think that until life hits you squarely in the face. The statistics are all there, the #1 cause of death for teens in the US is accidents or unintentional injuries. Motor vehicle accidents are the leading driver of these deaths. Estimates show that nearly 2,000 teens die in car crashes each year. That’s 2,000 lives cut way too short. Pretty much every teenager knows someone from their school or a nearby school that lost their life due to an accident. Driver education courses spend many hours going over the dangers of driving and schools do mock accident scenes but how do you make it stick in a teenager’s brain?
For me, personally, the gruesome photos and videos and fear-based teaching about driver safety does not help. I know that driving is dangerous. Inexperience behind the wheel is a big factor in what leads to accidents. Driving panicked behind the wheel is not going to help you navigate through a difficult situation. Knowing how to react and training yourself to react positively is helpful. The on-the-road training behind the wheel with an instructor was the most helpful part of my driver instruction. I completed the 40 hours of driving with my parents and also had 40+ hours with a driving instructor. That experience gave me the confidence to know how to react in many challenging situations.
I drive a lot. I have over 100,000 miles on my car since I turned 15 and a half. That’s roughly 25,000 miles a year. I have driven from North Carolina to the coastline of Alabama, a 10 hour drive. I have driven from North Carolina to Florida, a 12 hour drive. I have driven up and down the 20 mile stretch of highway between my work and home probably 400 times. I know that stretch of highway like the back of my hand. Luckily for me, that experience combined with my driver education helped me navigate through what could have become a horrible accident scene. I could hear the instructor telling me “stay calm, don’t make any sudden movements” as I made my way to the side of the highway unscathed.
So many of my friends’ parents discourage their kids from driving because they hear about the dangers of teens behind the wheel. I think that’s a backwards way of looking at it. My parents have always encouraged me to get as much experience as possible. Because of that, I am comfortable with driving pretty much anywhere. I am comfortable driving in a snow storm or rain because I have experience doing it. My dad intentionally had me drive during a blizzard so I would know how the car would react and what to do. I am comfortable but not over-confident. I know my limits. I still get nervous driving into the city and dealing with the insane traffic and no-holds barred city Uber drivers but I know I can handle it. The more parents hold their teens back from driving, the less experience they have which in turn, leads to more accidents due to inexperience and lack of confidence. The more a parent or driving instructor tells the student they are going to get into an accident or all the terrible things that can happen, the more scared that young driver is going to be and not take advantage of the opportunity to gain experience.
There is definitely some truth to the phrase, practice makes perfect.