Dressed in a radiant, elegant white gown with lace flowing from her waist and rhinestone detailing on her straps, a bride beaming from ear to ear leaves the reception, hand in hand with her new husband. The sun shining down on her glimmering dress makes her seem as though she is the spotlight herself. The newlywed couple say their final goodbyes, look into each other's eyes as though they can picture their entire future together in them, and hop into their car. Giddy with excitement the bride talks about her plans for her honeymoon and family, not knowing that it would all be over in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, a loud crash was heard and dark red blood was seen spilling, staining the glamorous dress. The fingers of the couple once intertwined are now slowly being pulled apart. Sirens blare and red and blue lights flash. Once at the hospital, the groom would learn the love of his life was taken away from him by a drunk driver on what was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.
This was the tragic, heart-rending story of the groom, Aric Hutchinson who lost his wife Samantha Miller in a drunk driving accident six months ago. The driver, Jamie Komoroski, had a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit in South Carolina. I can only help wondering if Jamie had received adequate driver education, would she have realized the risks associated with drinking and driving? Would Samantha’s story be rewritten?
Typically adolescents are permitted to drive by the age of sixteen. However, at this age, they are also heavily influenced by their friends and a party environment to drink. It is fundamentally important to continuously reinforce in teens the detrimental effects of drinking and driving. Driver education will teach students about taking responsibility for their actions if things were to go wrong and they are placed in stressful situations. Lessons that are part of the curriculum include, how to drink responsibly, what is considered the legal limit and drinking age, and the health effects. Deaths would significantly decrease if people take to heart what they have learned. For example, if they were to drink and are drunk, they should have a designated driver who is sober and can drive people home. Driver education also talks about other modes of transportation after consuming alcohol, including taking an Uber or bus.
In addition to the lessons taught above, some other steps that can be taken to reduce the number of deaths are making sure that parents are involved and aware of their child's driving habits. Having a family meeting where the parents discuss the importance of abiding by the law and what would happen if they did not would possibly give them an understanding of the seriousness of the topic. If parents are knowledgeable that their kid is going out, they should take their car keys to keep their kid and civilians safe on the streets. Consistently wearing a seatbelt will also decrease the number of deaths. Teaching kids at an early age about distractions in the car while driving such as texting, loud music, and having friends in the car might enable a conversation about safe driving that will resonate with people up until their adulthood.
I have never been in an accident, but there were some close calls. We were taking a long road trip and my uncle was very tired but insisted on driving. There were several occasions where he would doze off, veer off the road a little bit, and would have to switch drivers. Another experience I had was when I was driving with some friends and cousins and they would speed and recklessly switch lanes when someone was inconveniently “slow”. Most of the time people see themselves as invincible and the concept of death as something they can evade. Teens seek adrenaline-inducing activities and the thrill of speeding speaks to them somehow. Our frontal lobes do not fully develop until we are 25 years of age, meaning the decisions we make while we are young drivers are not fully sensible.
I can be a better and safer driver by ensuring that I am not distracted and keeping my eyes on the road at all times. I will maintain a safe distance between the cars to give myself more room for my reaction time. To keep other drivers safe as well, I will never engage in drinking and driving and will also never add fuel to the fire by having road rage.