Driving in the Dark

Hour 1: My mom pulls away from the DMV. In the passenger seat I am grinning. I flip the temporary license around in my hand over and over, fingers tracing my signature and passport photo. It is finally here. Nearly four months after I had originally planned to take the test, I was finally a licensed individual.

Hour 29: My insurance is set, which means my first solo drive. I decide to visit my grandmother. After all, I work at her apartment building in the summer, and I’m going to need to get used to driving myself there every day. The fifteen minute ride is pure freedom. My car doesn’t have Bluetooth, so I turn the volume on my way up and set it on the dash. It works just fine. I can’t wait to do this all the time.

Hour 42: My younger sister begs me to take her somewhere. I’m eager to drive. Together, we convince our mother to let me drive us to Dunkin Donuts. My mother gives me the directions and we’re off. The drive there is smooth sailing. Then it comes time to pull out of the strip mall, back onto the mainroad. I pull into a parking spot. I don’t know how to get out. Which lane do I get in? Which route should I take home? I have to call my mother for help.

Hour 50: A friend invites me over. It’s a straight shot down the road. It should be easy. I want to avoid the difficult intersection, fearing a collision in the dark, so I take myself a different way. I pull up to a stop sign. I stop. I look both ways. There’s a car at the bottom of the hill, far away enough that I have enough time to cross. I pull out. The front of the truck coming up the hill hits my back tire. The bang reverberates in my ears as my wheels spin out. Misjudging the distance of that car, I now find myself in the front yard of a stranger. I don’t drive again for months.

Often, driver safety education is overlooked, especially in teens. The basics are taught with permit tests and the obvious rules through society (Don’t text and drive; wear your seatbelt). Nowadays, few schools offer driver education courses and many must either take private lessons, like myself, or go through the test on basic knowledge.

Although I was lucky enough to get an individual driver education – four lessons over the course of the couple of months leading up to my test – that opportunity is one afforded to few, and it certainly doesn’t exempt me from accidents.

I live in Pittsburgh, a city known for its high accident rate and bad drivers. With a father from New Jersey, one thing that was always drilled into me was never to rely on the abilities of other people. Never assume they’ll use a turn signal. Never assume they won’t blow through a red light. Even if you do everything right, someone else might do something wrong.

I have to believe that one reason for these notably bad drivers, like many, may be due to insufficient driver’s education. Driver education is crucial to a world with a lower rate of death as a result of driving. If everyone is given a sufficient, accessible, driver education, we can trust both ourselves and those around us while on the road.

Most driver’s deaths stem from individuals not following the rules of the road – driving drunk, driving through red lights, not giving proper distance between cars in icy conditions. If we can further educate individuals, especially teens and new drivers, on these rules, then it is likely these deaths would occur less.

One way I believe is to make this education more accessible. With many schools no longer offering driver education and individual lessons proving expensive, many simply do not have access to a comprehensive driver education. Providing funds to reinstate these courses in schools, or making driver education a mandatory part of the curriculum is one way that might increase the number of those with adequate driver education.

I have also seen much support for retesting for a license every 10-20 years. Over time, many come to, even slightly, disregard the rules of the road in exchange for what they deem best. Retesting every 10-20 years would mean that individuals would have to essentially relearn and restudy the rules of the road. If this is more often kept in their minds, they will be more aware of the rules and, hopefully, pay more attention to them, therefore, resulting in less accidents and deaths as a result of not following these rules.

To help yourself be a better driver, and to encourage others, be sure of yourself. Don’t go at intersections until you’re comfortable and you know it’s safe. Don’t rely on the actions of others — if someone lets you out in front of them, for example, still make sure no one else is coming. Learn the rules, and encourage others to relearn them. Don’t distract drivers as a passenger either. Help them navigate and help them keep attention.

I, for one, have begun to drive again, but with more lessons alongside my parents in order to better grasp the driving rules and increase my own confidence. It is only through that further education, even with my license, that I have been kept safe on the road, and it is imperative that further education is given to all drivers so that everyone will be kept safe.