Don’t Take Life For Granted

It has been fifteen years since I took Drivers Ed. Wow, that makes me feel old. Knowing what I know now about the safety of driving, at fifteen years old I had no idea what I was doing. I just could not wait to get behind the wheel, show off to my friends, and be “cool”. I feel that this program is important because adolescents have no idea of any driver safety and the program should be more vigorous before students can obtain a permit. There are many deaths each year on roads that could be prevented with the proper measures. When I took this class, there were about 20 or more other students in attendance. I had many distractions so I could not focus on learning. With kids being kids, teachers blasting the radio in the car and making phone calls, there were way too many things going on to focus on the road. So, the first thing that could be done is reducing the number of students in the class and having them more frequent and adding additional times slots. I also believe that having one or two students in the car at a time should be the limit.

When I was twenty, I thought I was above the world. One mistake lead to a lifetime of regret with a huge learning experience. I went out and became extremely intoxicated. I decided I wanted to go home, but never made it. A few miles down the road I looked in the rearview mirror and seen red and blue lights. I quickly gathered myself and really thought I was going to get pulled over and sent on my way home. That was not the case and the first and only time I had ever gotten into any trouble. I was charged with a DWI, had probation for one year, sixty hours of community service, and six months of an interlock device. Do you know how embarrassing it was to blow into a machine to go anywhere? The thing I will always remember is taking the mothers against drunk driving course and the amount of money I had to spend on charges.

Since then, it is very rare that I have an alcoholic drink. I do believe that if that officer had not pulled me over, I would not be here today, and my son would not have his mother. I learned to make better decisions and to keep an eye out for others and make sure they do the same. I feel that an intense drunk driving course should be implemented into Drivers Ed so adolescents can learn early on the importance of making smart decisions. I also believe more tickets and jail time after x amount of citations would be a beneficial factor in slowing the number of accidents on roads.