Driving is an important responsibility and an important choice in a young adult’s life. Driving in many ways is a rite of passage, it is a symbol that one has reached adulthood and is responsible enough to be given the operation of a vehicle that can become a dangerous object if not operated responsibly or according to posted laws and regulations. States are given their own discretion when determining driving age, in my state instruction permits are issued at a minimum age of 14 years, and an independent operator license can be issued as young as 16 years of age when instruction permit requirements have been satisfied. Driving tests required by the state to obtain an operator license are minimal, and include things such as safe following distance, use of blinkers, safe turning and parking and overall operation. It doesn’t include defensive driving maneuvers, or any education on how alcohol affects the body, which are common reasons why accidents occur.
Some steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving could be to sponsor driving courses for younger drivers, maybe increasing the amount of education that is required prior to obtaining a license or permit. From my experience, a lot of driving mistakes happen just because there’s a younger person operating the car, they want to test limits. I can’t say that I didn’t make these types of decisions in my younger years when I first obtained my license, but I can attest how irresponsible some of those decisions were. With an instruction permit, an adult must be present for supervision; this adult should also serve as a mentor and not just a passenger. If children have more mentors in their life, regardless of what discipline, studies have shown that children (and teens) make better choices and decisions. My state’s licensing is more lenient than others because we are a rural state, many children don’t have access to busing programs for schools or live on ranches and farms and may help with the operation of those farms. Some states stop busing for high school students once they reach licensing age, which pushes the need to obtain a license on families. Perhaps running busing programs voluntarily throughout high school or picking designated community pick-up and drop-off points could be beneficial in taking the stress off families, because the schools are pushing an unnecessary risk.
Responsible driving isn’t just designed for youth or older adults that may be compromised by age-related conditions, responsible driving is everyone’s responsibility, and I think that people forget that. I’ve been in one somewhat serious vehicle accident, which happened in a tunnel while I was stationed in Hawaii while in the military. I don’t believe that this accident could have been avoided by any drivers except the one that caused the accident. Overcorrection is a contributor to accidents, and if the lead driver that caused the accident hadn’t overcorrected their steering, the accident may have been avoidable. I do believe that it was an inevitable collision; had I not hit the vehicle, someone else would have and the damage could have been worse. My vehicle at the time was well constructed and had a structure that didn’t collapse into the cabin. The belief is that I experienced TBI, as I started to have memory problems and worse migraines afterward, but I didn’t go to any doctors following the incident since I wasn’t physically injured. The collision was in 2010, I’ve since discharged from the military and settled into a routine, adult lifestyle. The lesson learned was to be defensive and predictive; even though my following distance was adequate for driving; it wasn’t adequate for stopping amid a collision.
Since the collision, I have made changes. I noticed that I wasn’t the same person from prior to the collision, and I didn’t like how things altered my perception and put me at higher risk. I stopped consuming alcohol in excess and placed limits on my intake. I started taking annual defensive driving courses to remind myself that I need to pay attention to everything around me as well as myself, and I encourage others to do the same regardless of age or driving skill. I’ve been able to avoid collisions since, and even gone out of my way to help prevent collisions for others. I know that the vehicular death rate in my states is roughly 15 per 100,000 people, this is partly because my state isn’t heavily populated. Traffic problems such as congestion can lead to road rage and collisions, so another part of my philosophy is to avoid conflict with other drivers if possible and give other drivers space; I let aggressive drivers pass and don’t engage, and I think that’s a problem that many other drivers struggle with that could lead to safer roads. Consistency is key, and up to date training and exercises can help maintain the knowledge needed for safe driving. Newer legislation and updated requirements to obtaining driving privileges could be the key to improving our odds while on the road by ensuring that we have more prepared drivers entering the driving force.