Information has a serious power over people’s decisions. When people act, they act using knowledge they have on their situation, good, bad, and in between. Poor information is why my friend was hit, but she didn’t call the police, instead trying to solve things directly and never heard back from the other party. Poor information is why my other friend is too scared to honk at people, thinking that they’ll attack her out of road rage. Poor information is why another of my friends panicked and cried after being pulled over for not having her lights on before dusk. Teen drivers ingest a lot of information, but who’s controlling the quality of information they receive?
Our demographic as a country is starting to shift. There are a plethora of young drivers on the road, but there are a large number of young people afraid to get their license. Teen drivers face many challenges from pressures to become independent to educational shortcomings that fail to truly inform young drivers before they take the wheel.
Many teens face high expectations in the current social environment. Teens today are expected to juggle many different facets of life all at one time. The average teen handles school, sports, extracurricular clubs, family responsibilities, and a job. Being able to handle all of this means commuting themselves to events, study halls, and school. There is a lot of stress put on teens and that does not diminish when they take to the road. Driving for younger people only stresses them out more, whether there is a parent in the car, friends, or they are just by themselves. Driving is always stressful and for teen drivers who are already stressed out at this point in there lives it becomes even more stressful.
Teen drivers are also faced with the challenge of focus. Especially where I live in Florida, there are constant distractions. Phones are a large one, but frequently it is a distraction for a teen driver and for an adult one as well. This means that many distracted drivers are on the road, regardless of age, and sometimes the person to your right constantly swerving on the phone distracts from the car breaking in front of you. This is the same with large interfaces inside the vehicle, distracting drivers with pictures, bright lights, and changing displays. Besides technology, there are also distractions outside the car. Glowing billboards, flashing signs, and bright high beams are all large disruptions to the focus of drivers and yet they are very common. It is hard to resist all the tourist trap signs when that is exactly what they were made to do: make you look. I was almost hit one time coming home from a local beach town because the driver behind me was too busy looking to the right of the bridge at the local restaurants. I would’ve had no where to go to avoid it, but my insurance would’ve increased to outrageous numbers being that I was 17 at the time. Distractions are deadly and the better we make teen drivers aware and focused the more protected they become.
Another challenge to young drivers is, believe it or not, their guardians. The safety of teen drivers is incredibly important, and not just for obvious reasons. Everyone wants young people to feel safe and to make decisions in their best interests because it protects the future of the nation and all those around them. However, people fail to protect young drivers by making them feel unsafe. Adults have a major impact on teen drivers, from controlling their exposure to the road to misinforming them about the realities of driving. Many times, parents, other family members, and close friends will scare and intimidate teen drivers without any intention of doing so. A friend of mine was told never to honk the horn because her mother saw a road rage incident where the woman honked and a man got out of the other car and shot her. Horrific and absolutely terrifying for a brand-new driver and yet the story was told to her by her mother, seemingly wanting to protect and educate her daughter. The safety of young drivers must be prioritized, but their ability to feel safe on the road must be considered as well, especially by close relatives and friends. There is no reassurance given, they are just told that the roads are dangerous and it is very easily to make a mistake that costs you or others their life. This is an unfortunate truth, but young drivers need to be supported and know that they are trusted to make the right and safe decision when that time comes. Most importantly, they need to be informed to make the right decision. Information holds extreme power over young, unexperienced drivers.
So how do we protect our teen drivers, on the road and off it? We make sure that they’re getting the right information. Many schools across the nation have dropped driver’s education courses. They no longer offer them because other courses, such as Advanced Placement that brings in extra revenue, can be put in their place. Some schools choose to leave the entirety of the student’s driving education to their parents. However, it is driver’s education. What better place to learn than a school? A school provides a safe and familiar environment where students can feel comfortable and are willing to make mistakes. They can become wiser with the rules of the road when actually taught and tested regularly on it. Putting driver’s education courses back into a majority of schools around the country would significantly improve the safety, ability, and knowledge of teen drivers throughout the nation. Some schools, like mine, argue that the reason it was removed is because there were not enough students in the first place. Teens want to be able to drive, they are at a time where independence is crucial. I know that there would be young students who would take that course, and even if it was one it would be worth it. Implementing a driving course along with public education could save lives. That makes it worth having.
Teens are just as nervous about taking to the road as their parents are. The process of growing is scary, and it is benchmarked by many periods of independence. The youth of America needs to receive more trust from their role models and their elders need to understand how important positive and motivating information is to teens. Communities need to support teen drivers and protect themselves as well by making sure their youth are knowledgeable and experienced. The transition from passenger to driver is hard for many kids, but driving courses, helpful feedback, and good experiences will make that road just a bit smoother.