Being able to drive yourself to school is a status symbol in high school. I started school at the ripe age of 4 years old. When starting high school, I was still 13 so while everyone was getting their license their sophomore year and during the summer before their junior year, I had just gotten my learner’s permit. For a week during thanksgiving break of my junior year I attended Drivers Education. During the course we were shown outdated videos that included flip phones and y2k fashion. The course contained one sad video about the family behind Joshua’s law and that was the only information given to us about what irresponsible or intoxicated driving can cause. Drivers Education courses do not show and inform new teen drivers on the dangers of driving and intern it produces uneducated irresponsible drivers.
When a teen gets their license, they fall into two categories. They either think they know everything, and that the road is their oyster, or they are overly cautious. When I got my license and my parents gifted me my first car, I fell into the first category and had the need for speed and passed every car that was going even a little under the speed limit but that all stopped when I got into my first car accident and the dangers of driving became real to me. Picture this, I had just finished my junior year of high school, and I had just picked up my little sister from school. We were headed home on a windy back road when we got stuck behind a mail truck. Thinking I knew best and without checking the roadway much I went to illegally pass the truck on a double yellow. What I didn’t notice was that the mail truck was turning left, and we collided. The truck hit the passenger side of my car and my sister, and I were left in a daze. When I finally snapped out of it I pulled over and checked on my sister then got out of the car and checked on the other driver. Luckily everyone was ok, but the mail truck’s front bumper was halfway hanging off and my Chrysler’s bumper was messed up along with the passenger side of my car containing large divots. It finally hit me, I had to do the dreaded task of calling my dad. My parents turned out to not be as mad as expected but we called the cops, and the crash was deemed my fault, and I was given a court date and fine for damaging government property. During the summer I attended court and luckily the judge dismissed my case and no fines had to be paid. I was not aware of the dangers of driving until I got into a car accident that could have injured myself and others.
The dangers of driving should be evident before a teen hits the streets with their license and drives irresponsibly like I did. Drivers Ed should show teens how dangerous driving is. The odds of dying in a car accident are 1 in 93 and the odds of dying in a commercial plane crash is 1 in 9,821. Being killed in a car accident is more common than on a plane and teens need to be aware. This shouldn’t be in a way that scares them into not driving but it should show them that being overly cautious and being late to wherever they are going is better than being erratic behind the wheel and dying. Being able to drive a car is a big responsibility and that is not shown in drivers ed. Instead of teaching teens how to be careful we learn the parts and the basics of how to drive a stick shift. 1.7% of car sales in 2023 were stick shift. That is not a high enough number for teens to be required to know how to drive one instead that section should focus on the dangers of driving and how to counteract them.
Teens don’t understand the dangers of something until they are shown examples, or a tragic event occurs in their life. To reduce driving related deaths new drivers should be educated on the dangers of driving and how to drive safely. Teens should be shown how tragic an accident can be before they experience one. Drivers should watch a course on the dangers of driving when learning how to drive during drivers’ education. When drivers are aware of the dangers of driving and how it can affect them, they are more often better and more cautious when getting behind the wheel. That is way it is better to be late and alive than dead.