Teen driver safety is a serious public issue, and in my opinion, we don’t treat it with the urgency it deserves. Driver’s education plays an important role in teaching teens how to drive, but it’s not just about knowing the rules of the road, it’s about understanding the risks. Personally, driving itself felt natural once I got started. What wasn’t obvious to me was how dangerous the roads actually are. 1.35 million people are killed globally in car accidents, 40,000 people alone are killed in the United States. If we saw those same numbers from something like drug overdoses or war casualties, the country would be in a panic. But when it comes to driving, we just kind of accept it, even though the impact is undeniable. That’s why I think driver’s ed needs to be more than just parallel parking and memorizing signs. It must make teens really think about the risks of unsafe driving.

Teen driver safety matters to everyone, not just teens. Teens get in more crashes than any other age group, mostly due to lack of experience and immaturity. We’re out on the same roads as everyone else. In towns like mine with a big population of young drivers, it affects the whole community. That’s why it's in the public’s best interest to support drivers’ education and help teens become safer drivers.

Now, when it comes to the biggest challenges for teen drivers, distractions and peer pressure are near the top. Phones are a huge distraction. Everyone wants to change the music, reply to texts, take calls, etc. But even one glance at your phone can be enough to cause a crash. New cars with big screens aren’t helping either. Peer pressure is real, too. A lot of teens want to look cool by driving fast or showing off. Some teens even feel pressure just to be behind the wheel, even if they’re not ready.

You could argue that teens shouldn’t be allowed to drive until they’re 18, just because of how many accidents happen at younger ages. But that would be a huge cultural change that I'm not sure the public would accept. A big challenge for most is the lack of educational experience. Driving isn’t something you’re automatically good at—it’s a skill that takes time. And when you’re new, you haven’t had enough time to develop driving skills. You don’t know how to handle certain situations until you’ve lived through them. That’s why you stay focused but most importantly take your driving training seriously.

As for how to overcome these challenges, first, don’t let confidence turn into cockiness. I’ve been there myself. About a month ago, I was in a minor crash because I looked away for a second after merging, and I didn’t leave enough space between me and the car in front. I had a friend in the car, so I wasn’t fully focused, and I clipped someone’s bumper. It wasn’t major, but insurance got involved, and the whole situation became a hassle. That taught me a big lesson, never stop paying attention, even when driving feels easy.

Even more personal, my grandfather was killed by a drunk driver while walking around his neighborhood. She was driving too fast, veered off the road in a truck, and hit him. He was killed on impact. That kind of thing hits hard. That’s why drunk driving or even just distracted driving isn’t something to take lightly. If you start building safe habits early, you’ll be the kind of driver who would never even think about drinking and driving. It’s about being responsible every time you get behind the wheel.

To promote safer driving, I think schools and communities need to get more involved. At my school, they do a safe driving assembly about every three years. That’s not enough. It should be a yearly thing at least. Show us the stats, share real stories—something that hits home. I’m a numbers person, so when I hear the actual number of people who die from crashes every year, it gets my attention. Communities can help too, by supporting teens, not just criticizing them. We need guidance, not just judgment.

Teen driver safety matters because it affects all of us. Driver’s education is where habits start, but it’s up to all of us including schools, communities, and families, to make sure teens know how to drive. One step we could take to increase teen driver safety is accountability in the number of hours teens have to drive before getting their license. Teens are supposed to log 50 hours of driving before being able to get their license, but to keep track of the hours is completely honor based. If we could create a program or system that accurately tracks the number of hours driven thus to insure, they have the needed experience before getting their license.