Maybe!

Mark was a wonderful 16 year old. He was smart, good looking, popular, and one day he was to be my uncle, but he was killed in an accident before I was even born. Coming home from a party, the driver of the car went into the ditch, hit an embankment, and put Mark through the windshield. No, he was not wearing a seat belt. The funeral, I heard, emptied the entire high school. End of a precious life.

None of this had to happen.

Kids will be kids; boys will be boys and parties will happen no matter what. Even smart kids can be stupid. But getting to and from the parties, the how factor, the skill factor can be changed and taught. At a recent venue, I saw older adults taking taxies/Ubers because they knew that they will not be able to perform behind the wheel safely several hours from then. “They Know!!”

Education can come in basically two forms: The school of hard knocks (experience) or being taught (book or someone else’s experience.) Driver Education gives the potential driver the knowledge of others and the controlled experience and skill of experience.

I went through Driver Education three years ago. They taught me basically everything I needed to know in my head, but the real education came from the driving instructor and my dad. My dad had me drive and drive and drive under his watchful eye. We practiced over and over the same skill until I could do it without thinking. We drove on ice, snow, at night. He had me slam on the breaks under different conditions to see just how far I would slide and my reaction time. I was highly skilled before I took the actual driving test.

But one thing that could be improved greatly is scenarios. Not enough. Scenarios provide experience in “pre-thinking” of real events that could possibly happen in the future. Teens do not always think ahead of time. Contingency plans my dad called them.

What if:

• A deer crosses in front of you and the traffic is somewhat busy?

• You go to a party and the driver has been drinking?

• You are driving and your tire goes flat or your front axel breaks (this happened to me…twice?)

• You need to pull over and there is no shoulder? Cell phone call?

If Driver Education did a hundred scenarios, made the driver think and be prepared, this would help. Being an Eagle Scout, our motto is: Be Prepared! This is a good thing for all drivers to be…prepared…in their thinking and decision making ahead of time.

Drivers education can and does reduce the number of deaths. Just not all of them. People still make irrational decisions at the spur of the moment. Just maybe, if the drinking and driving, teen party, no seat belt scenario had been talked about in some length, my uncle and his driver would have made a different decision that night and would not have died. Maybe.