Driving: It Really Is Life Or Death

Driver’s education serves multiple purposes. Of course, it teaches us how to operate a car and the rules of the road, but it also teaches us how to survive the roads, literally. When driving a car, anything can go wrong, and drivers need to be prepared for any possibility, from a distracted driver to sudden brake failure. What Driver’s Education does for its students is prepare them to take action when something goes wrong.

To reduce driving-related deaths, we need to ensure that every future driver in the U.S. (if not the world) undergoes proper, thorough Driver’s Education. Each prospective driver needs to understand each risk that comes with entering a vehicle. Listing these dangers to these students may seem redundant, but it’s necessary. We cannot just list them in a PowerPoint for a Driver’s Ed instructor to list off, they need to see for themselves what the effects of dangerous driving are. When I was undergoing Driver’s Ed, I was shown multiple videos of real people who had experienced an accident as a result of dangerous driving; whether it was distracted, drunk, or just irresponsible driving. By the end of the class, I complained of seeing so many videos of teenagers dying, because I thought “What are they teaching me? ‘Get in a Car and you’ll die?’” But now I can see better the point my instructor was trying to make. It may have seemed repetitive at the time, but most of the videos were real-life stories.

Also, most students have probably experienced a mock car crash. For those who haven’t, it is a scenario that schools put on, where a group of well-known students are chosen to play as victims of a car crash, one typically caused by distracted driving or driving under the influence. Two destroyed cars are brought into a parking lot, and EMS services are summoned to respond to the “crash” like they would in real life. In each mock crash, one of the students involved “dies” as a result of the accident. To some students seeing this scene, it is viewed as a scare tactic. In a way, it is. It’s a way to scare students, by showing them what could really happen to them or those they love if they found themselves in a similar scenario. It isn’t Driver’s Ed, but it serves the same purpose.

For me, I have never been a part of a car crash. But I have experienced someone driving in a not-so-safe way. Ironically, this person was a driving instructor. I had just taken my driving test and passed, and was being driven home by the instructor that brought me to the test. To get me home, the instructor needed to use a map. Not unusual, right? The issue was the instructor used his phone’s Google Maps, and placed the phone on his seat, in between his legs. So every time he looked at the map he was looking straight down, not at the road. Alongside that, whenever he would start moving from a stop, he would accelerate at an alarming pace. When I expressed concerns about these things, he dismissed me and assured me he knew what he was doing. To add insult to injury, he went in the wrong direction and ignored me when I pointed out this fact.

My father is also a chronic texter while driving. Every time I see him do it, I call him out and insist that he let me text for him if it is important (it never is), but he continues to do it. One would think that the adults in our lives would follow the rules that they set for us, but apparently not.

To ensure I am a safer driver on the road, I do my best to always stay focused on the road. I do not text and drive, or drive under the influence, or get distracted by the people in my car. When I’m with others who are driving, I call them out when they make bad decisions. Like when my dad takes out his phone when he’s at the wheel. Or when my friends pay more attention to the others in their car than to the road they are driving on. I take note of when other drivers around me make mistakes or do irresponsible things, so they may act as examples to me, my friends, or my family. Especially my little brother, who is about to take his driving test. I am aware of the dangers that come with my car. I am reminded of what could happen every time I have to brake a bit too fast on the highway or every time I see another driver ignore the rules of the road. I am reminded of the costs an accident could bring to me and my family, both the financial costs, and the other costs, and those costs are too dire to ignore.