“In America, an average of 34,000 people die each year as a result of driving.” - Driver Education. If we put that into perspective that’s 680 deaths for every state in America, and this has been proven in the news, down the street, or among loved ones. You may think that because it has never happened to you or someone close to you that it doesn’t happen, but it is a fact that driving is truly impactful. I think back to a time when my cousin and her family were truly going through great sorrow, especially the mother. When my mom found out as she glimpsed upon a notification, she went from talking about her coworker at work to being completely silent. She gasped and was aggressively using her fingers to create pieces of text that seemed to be novels. I wasn’t too sure what had happened, but my mother told us she’d drop us off at school right away. My mother dropped us off and rushed straight to my Auntie Lisa’s house, where she cried and scream profusely. My cousin’s older brother died. But how? When? Where? It was soon on the news, and it was an experience like no other. He died in a car accident as he was on his way to work, it was like any other day and how would he know today would be different? The driver was drunk and crashed at high speeds into his car, and he made his way through the intersection. We were so young, my cousin would question why her mother would scream and cry at night, and what it meant to lose your first son, so young to something so dumb. It truly impacted the way I saw substance use and handling a vehicle and the utter lack of responsibility. This would be the first but certainly not the last that I’d see in my young life.
Driving education is an essential curriculum that needs to be applied to every life and understanding. Being behind the wheel is something more than simply driving a vehicle, it’s managing a weapon that can transport throughout to and from safely or not. Driving education is a necessary step for minors to be informed to reduce accidents due to inactive driving or weather problems, but what about those who simply need to pass the driving test? They only know how to use the machinery; however, they can operate in serious situations. With the use of driver’s education, I’ve personally used the tools that they provide to get myself home safe from hydroplaning on the freeway, remembering where to move when I hear a siren, or making sure to stop before necessary. Learning the curriculum truly gives you the tools and the information to fully understand the physical and social aspects of your vehicle and how powerful it can truly be.
Not only advocating for driver education, but also substance abuse. I remember clearly, in middle school, my mother read on the news that my fourth-grade teacher had been arrested for manslaughter. It was utterly unbelievable and completely out of the ordinary, but the reason was “biker found dead, hit by a drunk driver…” She was a drunk driver and its rule number one in the book to not drive on the use of any form of substance that dysfunctions your sobriety. Drunk driver or substance driver can completely change your life, evidently, may that be in an accident or potential death. Besides drunk driving, being certified to drive is just as important, and although we think to ourselves “how does this man have his license?” It’s better to understand and have the credentials to operate your vehicle rather than trying to drive recklessly and simply knowing how to drive therefore you can. It doesn’t work that way and the authority doesn’t set strict rules in place which may lead to such a high number of deaths.
To move past these terrifying statistics and learn from them we need to imply a mental handbook within ourselves. We first need to strongly educate how to completely manage a vehicle and be prepared for any possible events on the road. Driving is a privilege, and it is only well-deserved for those who can create unity on the road, not dysfunction. Each person has their own story in their own vehicle and is hoping to make it from Point A to Point B, and with a safe trip comes the fundamentals that each vehicle carries. As stated before, substance use and driving are extremely dangerous, leading to great accidents and deaths in the first place. Always understand that you have another option, and that tomorrow is a new day, never try to convince yourself that it will be the last time because it can be the last time. As we further educate and experience one another we learn new tools and abilities to analyze the world around us, not only from our vehicles but who we are on the road.