Serious
Driving
Luke
Hahn

Driving a car is
handling a two-thousand pound lethal weapon. My driving instructor
said something like that. He showed us a video documenting a crash in
our area which resulted in the death of three teenagers. A girl
visited our class to tell us how by looking at a notification, she
got into an accident that left her with a felony. When behind the
wheel, we do not always consider how important safe driving is. But
there are steps we can take that instill or revive a serious attitude
toward driving. That is the attitude which makes good drivers, and
saves lives.
I have never
experienced a bad accident. While my parents regularly remind me that
driving is serious business, the testimonials I mentioned above
further realized to me the huge consequences of poor driving. I do
not think many people are influenced by such diverse and weighty
testimonials outside of a drivers ed class. Had I waited to
learn how to drive from my parents, those stories could not have
helped me become a serious driver.
A step that
everyone could take to promote safe driving is to talk about driving
seriously. Every so often, poor driving choices come up in
conversation and are treated too lightly. I remember hearing a person
describe how he once sped very dramatically, making excuses such as
“the road was straight, and you could see down it for forever.”
We often feel pressured to sympathize with the driver and
underemphasize the danger in his actions, but doing that only feeds
the sort of arrogance which can put people in hospital beds. Talking
casually about driving deadens everyone in the conversation to its
seriousness. We need to speak up kindly but firmly against dangerous
driving.

I admit that over time I have become less serious about driving. And
if I feel this way being less than two years out of drivers ed
class, I wonder whether older drivers could also take it more
seriously. It is easy to let the good sort of confidence that comes
from experience turn into arrogance. To help stop this regression,
perhaps organizations (such as driving schools) could occasionally
offer free, low-commitment driver review classes. This would give us
drivers a chance to review some rules of the road, and keep those
sobering testimonials fresh in our minds. I could see this sort of
opportunity helping me and others drive more seriously.
We must stay
serious to stay safe on the road. It is our duty. So if you are a
teen who wants to get his license, take the drivers ed class.
Those quirky videos (even if they are from the 80’s) still have a
powerful message for us today. Talk about driving seriously, and do
your friends the favor of pointing out their mistakes. And most of
all, model safe driving yourself. Who knows—you might save
someone’s life.