3,000 Pound Bullet

When I first began to drive in the spring of 2021, my father told me the same thing his father told him when he began driving back in the 1980s: “Driving a car is like driving a 3,000 pound bullet down the road.” I was 15 years old and ready to get on the road, getting closer to independence every step of the way so I just rolled my eyes and brushed off the seriousness of the moment, only thinking about being able to drive to my friends’ houses anytime I felt like it. However, when I got on the interstate for the first time in my life that same day, the realization hit me: if I’m not careful, and the people around me aren’t careful, my life could be over in an instant.

In the state of South Carolina, all drivers under the age of 17 must complete an educational course on driving, followed by 40 hours of driving with an adult over 21, 6 of which are with an instructor and 10 hours after dark, before they can take the driving test and gain a license. However, after that initial education in driving, no more is required ever in the future. Imagine trying to take a biology test from your freshman year science class 25 years after you initially took the class. The likelihood that you would pass that test would be pretty low. The same applies for drivers education: the longer someone goes after gaining their license, the less they can remember about safety on the road. In 2022, South Carolina was ranked number one in most accidents and also held the highest traffic fatality rate in the nation. Wrecks in South Carolina are so common that a morning commute without a single wreck before 8am is a miracle and most of that is attributed to lack of driving education.

Education of any sort has been proven to change lives and in this case it could not only change lives, but save lives. If drivers had to retake a class in driving at least every time they renewed their license, thousands of lives could be spared. However, a license in South Carolina lasts eight years which is still a significant amount of time. In order to more thoroughly ensure more safety on the roads, most of the resources available towards driving education should be directed towards individuals who have been at fault in an accident. For example, every time a person is in an accident in which they were behind the wheel and caused the accident, that person should be required to take another course in driving. Not just a test on knowledge, but a class and a session with an instructor. This may seem extreme and like a waste of resources but for a girl who lives in a state with over 140,000 crashes and 1,000 deaths per year on the roads, the fear of an accident is real. No one should get in their car on the morning of an important track meet and think “Am I going to get into a crash on the way?” No one should have to hear their coaches tell them they aren’t allowed to drive themselves to a race for fear they might get in an accident and not make it to the start line.

The norm on the road for South Carolinians is the speed limit is at least 5 miles per hour over the road sign. Most times drivers end up going 10 to 15 miles per hour over and no one considers it unusual. Everyone around here knows someone who has been in an accident and for me that person would be my father. My dad has always loved rock music and motorcycles and he used to spend lots of time cruising on the roads alone or with a friend. More than a couple times he found himself speeding close to 100 miles per hour down the road not paying close attention to the dangers ahead of him. One of these times it ended with him laying on the side of the road, his motorcycle not too far off, and a shoulder that for some reason felt a little strange.

Early in the evening, the sun just beginning to set, my father and a friend of his were cruising along the interstate when droplets of water began to drop down. As the rain picked up they exited the interstate but my dad did not lower his speed. As the road got more and more slick the danger became more real but the thrill of the ride blocked any feelings of fear. A quick check to the rearview mirror and he couldn’t spot his friend behind him at first glance so a closer look in the mirror was taken. The rain had already lowered the visibility making it harder to see, especially at high speeds, so a glance turned into longer and suddenly wheels were scraping against the curb and my father was flying through the air. Feeling the prickly and wet grass against his cheek, he rose to find himself on the side of the road in a ditch. All of the adrenaline coursing through his body blocked any pain that should’ve been felt in the moment and left him searching for his cell phone to call 911. While assessing his new found circumstances, the adrenaline began to wear off and was replaced by an aching in his shoulder. Soon after an ambulance arrived, taking him to a hospital where he learned the only injury he would walk away with was a broken collarbone. His life was spared when so many motorcyclists’ lives were not and for that our family will be forever grateful. However, the fear of another accident that wouldn’t end so well gripped my mother who convinced my dad to give up his motorcycle days. If driving education had more of a presence around the topic of motorcyclists, these sorts of accidents could be avoided along with much more serious ones such as the many lives lost to motorcyclists who were hit by cars.

I think it is extremely important to remind yourself and others around you of the safety rules put in place on the roads. They are there to protect you for a reason and they should not be ignored so much as they are. In order for myself and those around me to become safer drivers, it is important for everyone to hold each other accountable. Whether that be by having a conversation with a friend and agreeing to politely point out dangerous driving habits in one another or respectfully asking a friend driving to put their phone on silent while driving, every small step matters when it comes to road safety and education. One of the best ways we can learn from road safety is teaching it to one another in order to unite as a society to make a safer world for us to live in.