One of the most exciting milestones for me as an innocent and willing kid—just like most other kids-- was the freedom of having my own car. However, having a license and accessibility to a vehicle brings you a different type of responsibility. Not only the responsibility of being on time, but the responsibility of the life of the other people on the road and your own. I was lucky enough to have this eye-opening experience right before I started studying to get my license. It was a late night and my brother was driving us all home from a family reunion in a seemingly empty road. However, due to a lack of paying attention from not only my brother, but both drivers, we got into a crash late at night that would intermittently replay in my mind throughout the next years. It was this experience that helped me understand that carelessness can easily cost someone’s life, even if it is a small physical or mental shift after surviving car accidents. Driver education teaches you to be aware of your surroundings, but it is largely mis-conceptualized as only rules of the road even though it is advice about awareness and unspoken road rules. It is these misconceptions that have a lot of young people dozing off during these driving lessons—I know this was my experience—and end up missing out on a lot of information which could include how to stay alert and safe on the road at all times. We should take a different approach to teaching and implementing driver education. I believe that, in certain scenarios, experience is the best teacher. There should be an emphasis on driving courses for new and in-training drivers after they have finished their verbal driver education. Our current programs only take young drivers about half-way before entrusting the lives of others on the road, and this is something that is super nerve-wracking! This is another reason why our process should be more about easing new drivers onto our roads instead of letting our hot-headed generation take the reins. In addition, programs that help ease things like road-rage and tailgating are also avenues that driver education courses can take as well. For me, the common stereotypes of young and rash driver are apparent in my driving. I think that I should take the approach that I introduced above, and start becoming more aware of my surroundings instead of trying to drive as fast as I can to exercise my newfound freedom. I know that I am a rash driver at times, and that is why I want to work on controlling my emotions on the road and understanding that keeping my distance from other cars keep others and myself safe.
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