In
the Driver’s Seat
I
was seven years old driving the family four-wheeler around the house.
I knew the rules - no higher than second gear - but the
nothing-can-hurt-me-I'm-superman mentality of a seven-year-old won
out and I shifted into fourth gear as I rounded the backside of our
house. After two days in intensive care and five days in the
hospital, my respect for motorized vehicles grew strong.

As
I grew older, I was allowed to drive pickups and farm equipment
around the farm. Safety was always stressed and I learned how to
react to different situations. This was the beginning of my informal
driver's training. Because of these experiences, the driving part of
driver's training was easy. Respecting both the instructor and the
power of a moving vehicle is an important aspect of driver's
training. I appreciated learning from someone other than my parents
and was able to build on my experiences.
When
my parents and grandparents were young, driver's training was handled
as a class during school or in the summer. No matter how good of a
driver I thought I was, there were important driving rules I learned
while taking the online learning part of drivers education. As we
have seen the number of deaths due to vehicle accidents increase in
the last few years, I feel students should take the class part with a
teacher in a classroom setting and be required to take driving
instruction from an experienced instructor. By taking the class over
a semester many driving conditions would be experienced. Too many of
my friends waited the extra six months and have no formal education.
They tend to be the ones who don't take the responsibility of driving
seriously and have gotten in multiple accidents.
One
major cause of accidents in my rural area is the inability to
properly adjust for conditions on gravel roads. My sister wrecked
her car while following a classmate to her house on a dirt road.
Neither her friend, who was used to driving on gravel, or my sister
thought of the effect of loose gravel on a small car. Four of my
friends have wrecked their trucks causing injury, one of which was a
serious concussion that kept him out of school for weeks. Another
friend wrecked with me in the truck driving too fast for the
conditions when he hit the gravel road washboards. I was so scared I
blacked out even though I didn't hit my head. A classmate was killed
while her boyfriend drove her in snowy conditions. Alcohol was not
the problem in any of these accidents, just foolish judgment and lack
of respect for the vehicle.


Thankfully, I was spared from
the long-term physical effects of my four-wheeler accident, but I
still remember the horrible hospital stay and still take driving and
safety seriously. Formal drivers education, experience driving in a
variety of conditions, and awareness of unique situations are keys to
reducing the number of deaths related to driving.