When You're in the Driver's Seat...

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Life, as we know, is both precious and delicately fragile.

Furthermore, life is not a game that can be replayed. Thus, drivers should not treat it as such by getting into the driver’s seat and maneuvering the vehicle as if it’s a game of Mario Kart and any characters killed can be regenerated.

Unfortunately, whether intentional or unintentional, many drivers don’t seem to understand the importance of knowing how to operate every necessary part of a vehicle, or the importance of understanding what every sign and signal means. This lack of understanding contributes greatly to the amount of accidents that take place. This could possibly be due to the perpetuation of a continuous cycle of under education in driving concepts: parents who don’t know all the ins and outs of driving (but who may think they do just because they received a passing grade on their driving test) might decide to teach their kids how to drive rather than taking them to official drivers ed classes, and as a result a new generation of kids won’t always necessarily have the same type of experience on the road that they might receive at an official Drivers ed class.

To reduce accidents that can occur as a result of lack of extensive driving experience, official Drivers ed classes are extremely beneficial: a study done by the University of Nebraska between 2003 and 2010 found that Drivers ed significantly reduces both fatal crashes and tickets: young drivers who don’t complete Drivers Ed are “75 percent more likely to get a traffic ticket, and 24 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal accident (Shell, Newman).” What’s more, an analysis conducted by AAA, the world’s largest motoring club, found that “Drivers Ed reduces crash rates by nearly 4.3 percent and lowers the number of traffic tickets received by nearly 40 percent (Bigelow).”

Thus Drivers Ed is extremely helpful for reducing crashes and associated deaths, and for a variety of reasons: teen driver safety is the primary focus of Drivers ed, and so teenagers receive more information on how to stay safe than they likely would from their own parents (how many parents can honestly say they talked to their child for thirty hours about all the different laws and signs relating to driving before letting them get behind the wheel?) Additionally, teens have a tendency “to listen more to professionals than their own parents (Kass),” making it more likely that they will retain long term knowledge—such as valuable road skills and deep understanding of the law—necessary to keep themselves, and in turn other drivers and passengers, safe on the road.

In addition, practice most certainly makes perfect, and Drivers Ed provides extensive practice that parents most likely don’t provide if they teach their kids themselves. Most Drivers Ed programs include the necessary thirty hour class as well as anywhere between “6-10 hours of driving lessons in the car (Kass)” with a certified instructor. With that much practice under a Driver Ed completer’s belt, the likelihood of crashing decreases.

Inexperience—whether intentional or unintentional—accounts for many of the injury and fatality causing accidents that take place. The experience and knowledge offered through Drivers Ed helps to decrease the likelihood of these accidents occurring.

Drivers Ed, however, is just one of many ways to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Many other ways, and these are just a few, include:

-To always, always wear your seat belt. Everyone is guilty of forgetting at one point or another, but countless accidents occur every year where victims would have survived had they strapped the seat belt on before entering their vehicle.

-One drink is a drink too many. It doesn’t matter how old or experienced you are with driving: Even one drink causes a chemical effect on memory by slowing down nerve communication in the hippocampus, which can impair judgment as well as reaction time. If you know you are going to drink, have someone else drive you, or call an Uber, Lyft, etc.

-Driving at night limits your sight! If at all possible, if you haven’t perfected driving during the day time, it is best to avoid driving at night, given that it is harder to see.

-Be prepared for icky weather situations and know what to do in them: Are you aware that the road is the most dangerous shortly after rain begins? If not, you need to make sure you understand when weather is dangerous in case you find yourself in that type of situation.

-Understand the ways of the road. Make sure you know when to yield, when you have the right of way, etc. Merging at the wrong time causes multiple crashes.

-Don’t rush into anything; start small. If you haven’t practiced on the road with an adult for multiple hours, you shouldn’t be going at the maximum speed limit or jumping onto the highway when you don’t have a lot of experience.

-If you just got your license....those passenger rules exist for a reason. The risk of a fatal crash increases when you are young and inexperienced, and when you have additional passengers. If you’re a new driver, make sure you are following these rules.

-The text is not important! The Text. Is.Not.Important. If you are behind the wheel, you could try keeping your phone tucked away in a bag or even in the passenger seat behind you to avoid temptation to answer a text. If it is really an emergency, pull over to the side of the road and then respond to the text message.

-Make sure you are always watching for pedestrians. Just because you have the right of way doesn’t mean a naive kid or person isn’t walking or playing in a dangerous area. Always be alert for kids!

-Always keep a hand on the wheel—you never know when a crazy driver is going to cut you off and you have to veer away quickly to avoid an accident.

I have fortunately never been in a serious car accident (and I pray it stays that way!) But watching some students drive in and out of my high school is truly something to behold at times; many students rush to get out of the parking lot the second the afternoon bell ring before the more reckless kids get to the lot, and for good reason: Kids speeding into the school have collided right outside the school entrance coming into the school in the morning, and there’s even been an incident of a student smashing into a teachers car when backing out of the parking lot. Accidents or near accidents are so common that whether it has to do with lack of Drivers Ed or unchecked recklessness, a teen driver getting into an accident at high school is no shocking news.

If everyone makes a purposeful decision to follow the steps listed above, as well as ones that are not listed above, we are not only increasing our own safety, but the safety of others. Taking actions like being cautious on the road and monitoring all angles at all times, as well as being sure to yield, cooperating with other drivers, being courteous and respectful to other drivers by not cutting in front of people in a lane randomly, informing a friend—no matter how much it will hurt their feelings, of all the ways their driving might need some improvement, etc, can help everyone drive in a safer environment and avoid causing an accident that takes innocent, unnecessary life.

People disregard or wing countless things when they are pressed for time: practicing for presentations, coming up a thoughtful gift, etc. Driving should not be one of those things. Life isn’t a game and therefore driving shouldn’t be treated as one either. Speeding may seem fine…but it’s not. You could cause an accident and/or take a life. Driving more passengers than you should may seem fine...but it’s not. You could cause an accident and/or take a life. Running a red light or refusing to slow down during a yellow light might seem fine....but it’s not! You could cause an accident and/or take a life. One wrong mistake and subsequent accident can end an innocent person’s life forever. Do not be a person that causes such an accident; If you do treat driving like a game....approach it with caution and play it carefully.

Works Cited (for the statistics listed)

Bigelow, Pete. “Drivers Education Helps Reduce Teen Crash Rates.” Autoblog, Verizon Media, 11 Sept. 2014, www.autoblog.com/2014/09/11/aaa-drivers-ed-education-teen-car-accident/.

Duane Shell, and Ian Newman. “Study: Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets.” Study: Drivers Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets | News Releases | University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 13 Aug. 2015, newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/13/Study:+Driver's+ed+significantly+reduces+teen+crashes,+tickets.

Kass, Jackie. “Concerned about Teen Driver Safety? Drivers Ed Reduces Crash Risk.” Drive Smart Georgia, Drive Smart Georgia, LLC., 10 Oct. 2017, drivesmartgeorgia.com/blog/teen-driver-safety-drivers-ed-reduces-risk/.