“The Extra Mile” : The Importance of Driver Education

On a gray balmy day, my older brother and I peered over the heads of the other fourth and fifth-graders in the carline, waiting anxiously for the familiar gold tint of my dad’s car. As he slowed to a stop, we scrambled in, fastened our seatbelts, and waited to be whisked expeditiously to our house. The minutes, however, seemed to drag for longer than usual, and the familiar bend of the road into my neighborhood did not come. I peered up from my book, and my dad, meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror, informed us that we wouldn’t be heading home immediately, but rather to pick up my mom from the Munroe Regional Hospital.

My dad held both of our hands as the automatic doors of the hospital slid open. I entered cautiously– looking left, then right– and there she was. In all her motherly splendor- albeit a bit tired looking– my mom sat in the lobby. I wriggled loose of my dad’s grip, and embraced her in a monster hug. Climbing up into her lap, I fiddled with the funny-looking cast on her neck and briefly registered the brace on her wrist while my dad exchanged a few words with the lady at the front desk. Words such as ‘accident’, ‘insurance’, and ‘lucky’ floated around as I sat in my mom’s arms, and within a few minutes, we were on our way home.

For my nine year old self, this had just been a random after school excursion– a brief mishap for my mom. It wasn’t until later that I understood that she was lucky to be alive, and that I was lucky to have a mom to this day. While I sat in my homeroom class that day, my mom had embarked on the highway, expecting to arrive at her office in Silver Springs like usual, but she never completed that journey. In the blink of an eye, she had lost complete control of her car. Four thousand pounds of steel flipped– one, two, three times, landing on its head and trapping my mom inside.

My mom often wonders– and I share her thoughts– if she would have had this accident, had her driving history been different. She had never touched a car until she moved to the United States from Nigeria at just about 22 years old, and when it came to driver’s education, the only class available to her was from my dad– explaining what each button and gear meant as they cruised the neighborhood streets at 2 miles an hour. So as one can imagine, my mom has never felt exactly comfortable driving the way that some do when they have been exposed to cars as young as fifteen and sixteen years old. That is one of the things she loves and encourages us to take advantage of– the plethora of information available, and the opportunity to develop our skills in Drivers’ Education classes.

In my school, we have Driver’s Ed classes where students as young as fifteen years old can go out supervised on the road and develop their driving skills with a qualified instructor by their side. I believe formally educating students about driving from a young age is one of the key steps that can be taken to reduce deaths related to driving. This was further proved by a study done by two researchers at the Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Observing a group of 150,000 teen drivers over the course of seven years showed that teens that had completed a drivers education course consistently showed lower rates of crashes and other traffic violations, versus those that simply completed 50 hours of driving with a parent (Newman). Not only does a Drivers’ Ed class give students a better grip on driving and more confidence before embarking on the road, but we also learn the risks associated with driving and the actions we should take to reduce said risks, notedly methods such as defensive driving. Currently in my state of Florida, Driver’s Ed is required to get your learner’s permit, and even adults getting their first license must take a similar educational course, which are both great first steps. We should also continue to make in-person driver’s education classes more accessible especially in rural or low-income areas. I would even bring up the idea of continued driver education being required to renew your license, so that we have more frequent reminders of the responsibilities of a driver.

On a personal level I also make it a point to be a good example for my younger sister, Peace. My older brother is now studying in the university, but there was a time where he was tasked with taking me to band rehearsals, track practices, and hangouts with friends. Every single trip, he remained laser focused on the road and showed me good driving practices, and I make it a point to show the same habits to Peace: I make sure that all my passengers are buckled up. I don’t give in to distractions– my phone will be there when I arrive at my destination.

Accountability is also super important when it comes to driving. Although I have not encountered myself in such a situation thus far, going into college, one is bound to find oneself in the midst of alcohol and people impaired by it or other substances. It’s important to keep our friends accountable and not let them get on the road if they are even the slightest bit impaired. According to the U.S Department of Transportation, drunk driving was the cause of over 11,000 deaths in 2020. Let’s go the extra mile to make sure our friends and loved ones do not become a part of this statistic (no pun intended).

At the end of the day, driving is a huge responsibility and not something to be taken lightly. Reducing the number of deaths on the road each year is a task that should rest on the shoulders of all drivers collectively, striving to keep ourselves and others safe– whether that looks like paying for an intoxicated friend’s Uber, choosing not to pick up your phone as your younger sibling watches from the backseat, or makeshift masterclasses from dad to mom.

Works Cited

“Drunk Driving.” NHTSA, https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving.

Newman, Ian, and Duane Shell. “Study: Driver’s Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets.” Newsroom, 13 Aug. 2015, https://newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2015/08/13/Study:+Driver’s+ed+significantly+reduces+teen+crashes,+tickets.