My grandparents have always been a key presence in my life. Many of my fondest memories were made in the backseat of their car, listening to the oldies channel and my grandfather’s anecdotes as we drove home from school. Even now, when I can drive myself to where I need to go, they continue to help me, driving sometimes more than 30 minutes to help judge my speech and debate tournaments or cheer me on at a lacrosse game. At my last speech and debate tournament, as I was waiting to compete, I received a call from my grandfather: my grandmother had been in an accident and would not be able to make it. While I was shocked by the news and terrified by the chance my grandmother might be hurt, I was also rocked by the realization that my grandparents’ car - which I had always seen as a safe space - was no safer than any other car on the road.
Driver’s education is an incredibly important way of reducing fatalities on the road. Driving safety educators have a difficult task: they must educate drivers in a way that scares them enough to make them conscious of the dangers of driving, without scaring them so much that they become paranoid drivers. Educating drivers about the dangers young is essential. When you’re in high school and it seems like everyone is getting their license, it can be easy to adopt the mindset that driving is a right, not a privilege. Reminding drivers of how lucky they are to have a license and the heavy responsibility that comes with driving is important to creating a foundation of mindfulness.
One of the most important ways drivers need to be educated is the nuances of safe driving. Messages like “Don’t Text and Drive”, “Don’t Drink and Drive” or “Buckle Up” have been spread widely, to varying degrees of success. Messages like these are important, but they can also lull drivers into false senses of superiority. A driver may say “I always keep my eyes on the road, never drive under the influence, and always buckle up. I am a safe driver”. Even if the first three statements are true, that doesn’t mean the last one is. There are so many small behaviors that are normalized in driving that are actually very dangerous.
Sleep deprivation is a serious issue among drivers. Approximately one-third of adults get six hours or less of sleep a night (Sleep Foundation). The issue is even worse among teens: 92% of teens do not get the recommended amount of sleep, 23% get six hours of sleep and 10% get only five hours (Child Mind Institute). While this lack of sleep has serious effects for all aspects of a person’s life, it has devastating consequences behind the wheel: those who average six hours of sleep or less are 3 times more likely to crash (CDC). Not only that, staying awake for 18 hours is equal to having a blood content level of 0.05% (Maine Gov). A parent may confidently say that they would never get behind the wheel drunk, but they regularly drive after a sleepless night with a newborn. The consequences of a drowsy driver can be just as devastating as a drunk driver, but very little recognition is given to the issue.
Another area drivers education needs to place more of an emphasis on is the dangers of distracted driving. Chances are, if you ask a teenager what distracted driving is, most would automatically respond with “texting and driving”. While texting has quickly become a significant source of distraction while driving, it is far from the only one. Anything that takes a driver’s attention off the road is a distraction, whether it’s using their phone, talking to passengers, adjusting their music, looking at the navigation, or eating and drinking. Very few drivers can confidently say they don’t participate in at least one of those activities, at least periodically. Teenagers in particular are constant participants in these activities, sometimes doing more than one at once. Most states have some form of restriction on what or how many passengers a teen can have in the car with them while they have their provisional license. In my state, teens are not allowed to drive with any non-family passengers under 18 for the first six months of their license. Despite that, I have seen most of my peers disregard this law, saying that it’s a “dumb rule”. It’s a rule that is anything but dumb; it recognizes that driving with passengers is an inevitable experience in any driver’s life, but it tries to delay the risks until teenagers have more experience under their belts. If teens were more educated on the reasoning behind the rule, they may be more willing to observe it; after all, no one wants to be the person that deliberately endangers their friends.
To truly teach safe driving, it will take more than just a few classes. For everyone to truly accept the requirements and rigor of safe driving practices, they need to become a cultural norm. I always instinctively buckle my seatbelt because that is what my parents ingrained in me and what I have always seen everyone around me do. If a kid grows up watching their parents go to bed before 9PM every night so that they can wake up at 5AM and still safely drive, they’ll understand how being well-rested is an important part of being a good driver. Similarly, teens may be less likely to flaunt the rules and drive their friends if they were socially stigmatized for doing so.
Being on the road will never be the safe space I once imagined it to be when I was young, but if we collectively decide to educate ourselves and others about the safest driving practices, we can help make the road a little bit safer.