Using a Brain while Driving

There is one action that makes driving safer for everyone on the road; using a brain. It does not even have to be yours! Simply obtain a brain and use it to interpret information gathered primarily through the sense of sight. Many fatal accidents occur due to someone not using their brain to make proper choices. Decisions such as “I will answer that snap really quick” or “I only had two beers” are brainless choices. A drivers ed course aims to provide young drivers with information about intelligent choices to make while driving. Students who have taken drivers ed will have a heightened awareness of smart and not so smart choices on the road. The course can also help combat the invincibility complex many young drivers seem to have; i.e. driving to fast for the conditions or not wearing a seat belt. Young drivers need a wake up call; something shocking. Unfortunately, this usually comes with the death of a friend, relative, or acquaintance. It would be poor form to kills someone’s friend in a vehicular accident so, each year Freshman Impact comes to my region to teach freshman students about good and bad life choices, many of which revolve around driving. The program includes videos, skits, and true stories of vehicular accidents. This year they brought a highway patrol car that had been totaled in an accident. They left it in our high school parking lot for a week with a sign reading; “the seat belt saved his life”. This program is beneficial, other states likely have something similar, but it could be a general idea to implement across the United States.

The phenomenon of not using a brain is called mindlessness. Many people are prone to this however, few actively work to combat it. My brother suffers from this problem. He and I commute 60 miles each day for school, the third day he drove alone, he backed out of his parking spot without looking behind him and bashed the door of a new dodge truck. It is a driver’s responsibility to make sure their vehicle does not hit another, and he is taking responsibility for his actions. He learned from his mistake and is much more aware now. The other side to using a brain while driving is making connections. When my dad taught me how to drive, he also told me about different conditions I may have to drive in occasionally. Now that I have commuted for two years, I have experienced some of the conditions he told me about. Despite talking me through how to handle them before I began driving alone, I learned it is one thing to listen to how to drive in it vs. driving in it. He was not kidding when he talked about ice fog with the consistency of pea soup. A good driver must continue to learn by making connections between choices and outcomes; even highly experienced drivers have something new to learn.