As someone who is currently on the journey of becoming a driver, and has never really seen many accidents, I can attribute all of this to one reason; Illinois, the state I live in, has the third strictest regulations for teen drivers. Here, teen drivers have to attend and pass a Drivers Ed course, pass a written exam to get their permit, get 50 hours of driving experience with at least 10 at night, do a behind-the-wheel driving program, hold on to their permit for 9 months, and then take the actual test to get their license. It’s a lot. And one of the most important steps in that process is Drivers Ed.
I’ll be honest. It’s not that we remember everything we learn in those classes that’s so crucial; the amount of rolling stops I see every day proves it. The value I’ve found in Drivers Ed is that those programs burn into you the sense of defensive driving, that it’s a matter of survival.
This was the goal of my Drivers Ed teacher, Mr. Adam. Working at the driving school wasn’t his full time job (from what I gathered he’s had a very interesting life), but he was very passionate about making sure that young drivers knew how to be safe. There wasn’t a single class where Mr. Adam neglected to show us a news report of a teen car crash, or tell us the safety reasons behind the rules of the road. He was a perfect teacher because he wasn’t afraid to make us feel some healthy guilt or worry about driving. He cared for every single person inside a car and outside, knowing that sometimes it just takes a hard look at real consequences to get people to care like him.
And sure, at first some people thought it was scary or not the right way to prepare teen drivers, but the proof is in the pudding. If I ask anyone who finished the class what they remember, a good chunk of them would say something along the lines of “drive defensively.” They all remember the heartbreaking pull of the Oprah specials against texting and driving or DUI. They remember when we spent 8 minutes unpacking the importance of stopping in front of a school bus. They can’t forget the dash cam videos of speeding or reckless driving in cold Chicago winter. In a country where we have a reading attention span of 8 seconds on average, those lessons, explanations, and visual reminders of the general risk of driving are key to reducing the number of car crashes we face.
Drivers Education, and what I’ve learned from Mr. Adam, offers two means which, when continuously applied in a teen driver’s journey, can help make everyone safer on the road:
First, it provided a space for us to constantly be reminded of the dangers of driving. I’ve already emphasized how so, but another important aspect of it is that it fed us this on a regular basis. It’s easy to get too comfortable driving after a while. You’ll see drivers pushing their speed farther and being more lax when it comes to seat belts. However, if they were to keep up the habit of watching news clips or interviews of reckless driving, they’d recognize how much of a mistake it is to think they can bypass the rules of the road. This is something I personally want to implement as I start to get more practice in, as I don’t want to become one of those teen drivers who feels invincible. It’s simply not the truth.
Secondly, being a student in Drivers Ed allowed me to learn from the experiences of others. My teacher always encouraged us to ask questions and would give real life examples of what we were learning. Having access to this information was invaluable because it prepared us past what the Rules of the Road book could. Sometimes the truly random just happens. Therefore I think that continuing the habit of asking experienced drivers for advice or just lessons they’ve learned over the years is crucial to reducing car accidents. As prevention is better than cure, having some idea of what to do in an unexpected situation is better than having it catch you off guard. To keep everyone safe, a combination of Drivers Education, staying in touch with the risks of driving, and having the humility to learn from others is crucial. Shout out to Mr. Adam, who taught me all of this!