The initiative all of us can take

One sunny day in 2012, I was happily singing along to the CD my mom had in the stereo, my legs swinging back and forth, bumping my car seat in time to the music. This moment, with my mom and siblings in our beat up minivan meeting my dad at Texas Roadhouse, is burned into my mind. The next second, I felt a jolt and heard screaming metal. My sisters were crying. I was in a haze. I looked up to my mama, who I had always trusted to keep me safe. She looked back at me, scared. I had never seen her scared before.

A car had gone through a stop sign while we were driving through the intersection. He hit our van on the side, the side both my younger siblings were on. One got whiplash, the other hearing problems. I was still in shock, but not a scratch on my body. My mom told me it was time to get out. I shook my head, still in a fog. My mom carried each of us out of the van, one at a time. Each child taken out, the man who hit us looked more and more miserable. He didn’t have car insurance or a drivers license, and he paid the price for that.

When I started to learn to drive, my mom retold this story to me. Before we even left the driveway, she said to me, “You aren’t learning to drive. You are learning to drive right.” Driving right is not a one day decision, it’s a sacrifice made over a lifetime. Practical ways that I actively reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving is by staying aware and being considerate of other drivers.

Staying aware while driving is crucial to staying safe on the road. The expectation when I’m driving is for passengers to stay quiet. If one of my friends is loud or distracting, I patiently remind them the dangers of disrupting my attention to the road are simply not worth it. And I’ve found that through my example, when it’s their turn to drive they ask for quiet as well! An aware driver’s job doesn’t stop when they aren’t driving. Being an observant passenger is just as vital. Every driver makes mistakes on the road, but an observer in the car being conscious of surroundings can make the difference between life and death for everyone in the car. Even if the driver doesn’t see the car in their blind spot, a passenger has a different point of view and can warn the driver. Passengers have just as much a responsibility to pay attention as drivers do.

A lot of my friends brag or tease each other for being an “aggressive driver”. This is not a joke. Not thinking of others while driving is seriously reckless. It’s important to let people merge and take turns at stop signs, but it’s just as vital when people don’t do the same to let it go. Road rage clouds essential driving tools like logic and reason. A temper makes a dangerous driver. I actively stay calm and patient by taking keep breaths and giving the driver who wronged me the benefit of the doubt. If someone cuts me off, I say in my head, “Maybe they didn’t see me” or “Maybe they were in a rush.” If I’m still feeling angry, I’ll make a little joke like, “Maybe they were picking their nose!”

I’ll never forget that accident. It’s a powerful reminder of the kind of driver I never want to be or never want to meet. A car is a weapon. As a teenage driver, it’s imperative that I keep educating myself to be prepared for any situation on the road. By staying aware and being considerate of other drivers, I actively reduce the number of deaths on the road. My driving education did not stop after I got my license. Being a responsible driver is a commitment, an ability perfected over a lifetime. To get there, daily perspective corrections and cognitive learning by experience are essential. Breaking it up to the day to day small and simple things, together we can become more responsible and observant drivers. I challenge you today to forgive a driver who has wronged you. Then the next day, I challenge you to keep your car quiet and pay extra attention, as if you’ve never seen the roads before. With little adjustments like this, the very way we drive will improve. Driving education is more than knowing red means stop, it’s action.