Getting behind the wheel of a car is potentially the most dangerous thing a fifteen-year-old child can do. Operating an automobile requires focus, training, coordination, and spatial awareness. Most children have only begun to hone the skills required to drive a car, yet every year teenagers sit in a driver’s seat and back an automobile into the world. The only safety net is a well-educated motorist, and sadly, I don’t think the driver’s education system is always as thorough and comprehensive as it should be.
My own personal experience with driver’s ed was not a particularly good one. I took it during COVID when we were locked down, and through a private company. All of the classes were on line and not great at conveying the importance of the material. Most of the time I was just trying to get through the lesson in the allotted amount of time and I wasn’t retaining most of the material. It also didn’t help that all of my classes were on line at the time, and I was totally burnt out of zoom calls and computer screens. I did have sessions with in the car with the instructor, but it didn’t seem like nearly enough. I took my test and passed, but I took the mirror off the passenger’s door the first week of having my license and dented the fender shortly thereafter (my parents weren’t thrilled). My point is the driving school said I was ready for the road at the end of the class, and looking back, I really don’t think I was. A couple of fender benders were the result, which isn’t the worst thing in the world, but people getting seriously hurt in car accidents is a very real thing, and I think the seriousness of it can’t be stressed enough.
What steps do I think can be taken to save lives when driving? No phones, no phones, no phones! In my opinion, I think cell phones are the single most dangerous part of driving in this day and age. Kids my age are so connected to their devices they often times can’t go even a short amount of time without looking at them. Apps and social media are designed to relentlessly tether people, especially young people, to their devices. Operating a car in traffic, at potentially deadly speeds, requires 100% of the attention of the individual behind the wheel. Even a small distraction can impair someone’s ability to drive effectively. A person’s phone blowing up incessantly with notifications is a huge distraction. It’s like randomly putting a blindfold over someone’s eyes while they are trying to walk a tightrope. There are apps that prevent distractions like DriveMode or Text No More, which can be useful tools, but they have to be used voluntarily. I think teenagers need to be aware of the dangers of using devices while driving, but also, I think parents should stay well informed of the resources available.

Sadly, my town experienced a horrible tragedy last summer as a result of a child being struck by a vehicle. It was a freak accident which accrued at a car wash. A car lost control coming out of the wash and hit an eleven-year-old boy. The car then crashed into a local restaurant and struck and injured several patrons. The boy unfortunately died as a result of the injuries. My dad happened to be working in an office space right above the restaurant where it happened, and helped move the car off one of the girls in the restaurant. He said it was like a war zone. There was glass everywhere, people were bleeding and everything was in shambles. He said it was like a bomb went off. The reason I’m choosing to relay this story is because our town was completely devastated as a result of this tragedy. We saw first-hand how a slight mishap with a vehicle can result in mass destruction and the death of an innocent child who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I think the steps to make the roads safer should start with a more comprehensive driving curriculum. My younger brother literally just finished his driving school through a private company and the program was a joke. I don’t think private driving companies should exist. I think the courses should be a mandatory high school class, and maybe I’m only saying this because I’m already eighteen, but I think the driving age should be increased to at least seventeen or maybe even eighteen, like it is in Europe. I think a fifteen-year-old driving with a permit is too early. I think driver’s education can begin at fifteen, but driving alone should be considerably older. I saw a statistic which said more than half of first-time drivers fail their driver’s test the first time out. This seems like a good indicator that something isn’t quite right.