One Life At a Time

I have come to appreciate the need for educated and safe drivers as I do a plethora of driving for my current employer. I see many mistakes and near misses as I am on the road. I am also aware of my own responsibilities as I am the one behind the wheel.

I didn’t take the typical route of going to get my permit on my 16^th birthday. I knew I wasn’t ready at the age of 16 to drive responsibly. I believe this is the first step to driving safely. I know it is a rite of passage into stepping over to adulthood. An adult is one who lives humbly, aware of themselves and their skills. I got my license when I was in my 20’s. As I approach 40 and because I drive so much, I appreciate my choice to delay getting my license. A couple of years ago, I almost lost my mom to an accident because she fell asleep at the wheel driving alone due to medication she was taking. Today she is a walking miracle. When I received the call during work my life changed. My life was refocused on her life and how such a little sleepiness behind a wheel changed her life, my life, the truck driver’s life and many others. This powerful reminder taught me to look at all angles, even the anger the delay may have caused others.

This highlights what I see as a dangerous trend on our roads: road rage. We forget to step back in the heat of the moment. Anger, instead of thinking with compassion and civility, has taken over. What if that person who just cut me off, was coming from the hospital after their life had been shattered? Would I then look at them giving me a rude gesture differently? Compassion is not necessarily a skill that can be taught in driver’s education but should be thought about whenever a driver gets behind the wheel. A driver should never drive under the influence of anger.

Closely related to this is driving under the influence of substances and alcohol. Though it is carefully regulated by our laws and officers, it is selfish and often ends in tragedy. Part of driving responsibly is learning the consequences of choices made even before picking up a set of keys. It should also include taking the keys from a driver who is unfit to drive. Educating drivers should also include an awareness of the length of our choices’ consequences.

Part of driving education involves teaching critical thinking, problem solving, and staying focused on the road while never becoming complacent in our skills. Always be one step ahead. Don’t drive offensively, but defensively. Driving takes a lot of focus.

The longer we drive, the less we tend to remember the skills we were taught at the start. Statistics show that we are more likely to be involved in a crash the closer we are to our homes. Why? I believe it is because we know our home roads like “the back of our hands”. Mundane driving is dangerous and the danger of it needs to be taught.

Learning how to drive begins at a young age, way before 16. Educating people how to drive responsibly involves not just the motions of driving but also teaching responsibility. We must teach the fundamentals to build a strong foundation. We must also teach and model etiquette. Together these build strong safe drivers and decrease lives lost.

A big part of driving is gaining independence and freedom. But as we progress in our skills, it is easy to take that privilege and the ability to perform a task with ease–until it is revoked. We then wish we had done things differently. We wish we hadn’t given the rude gesture to that car that cut us off. We wish we had ignored that text. We wish we had shown grace to the driver next to us at the stop light who scowled. When we sit in the driver’s seat, we are to never stop learning. As we sit in the driver’s seat, think, “How do I want to impact people around me?” We all have choices. We all have plans. We all have deadlines. We all have loved ones. What are our priorities?

Do I want to make an impact with what I have written? Yes. Put names and faces to the numbers.