In The Driver and Passenger Seat

Christian R. Rangel Monterrubio

11/13/2020

The Driver Education Initiative Award: In the Driver’s Seat Essay

I have been behind the wheel of a car since the age of 16 when I got my drivers permit. From then on, and even after high school, where I started my 5-year job as a valet at a prestigious resort in San Antonio, Texas, I have always been all about safe driving. It was my driving experience and some lessons and safety procedures taught by the valet job that helped me see that there are actions, reflexes, and quick-thinking decisiveness in scenarios that you just cannot teach. To currently working at a construction site and having my licenses for operating heavy machinery and special terrain vehicles all those safety precautions are still in place. You just must be all knowing of your surrounding areas and just practice safe procedures all day every day when operating a vehicle.

I personally have been in 3 car wrecks, two of the wrecks were classified as totaled, while the third just being a fender bender. I will talk about two car accidents, one in a sports car and the other on a sports bike. Even though my car was totaled, I walked away with a slightly injured back and seatbelt marks on my body. That is not a bad tradeoff for being hit from behind on a rainy day, crashing to the divider on the left side of the freeway thus making me lose control sending me into a spinning frenzy. All this while oncoming traffic was coming at about 70 miles an hour. This could’ve all been prevented if the other driver had the knowledge and common sense to drive about 10-15 miles less than the actual speed limit, 80 mph, due to the weather severity. The accident on my motorcycle occurred when the SUV next to me was talking on the phone and tried to merge on my lane making me lose control and drive off into a patch of grass on the side of the service road.

Although I practice safe driving, I am surrounded by family and friends that are either aware or unaware of some of the bad habits they conduct. My friends are horrible at texting and driving and do it about 90 percent of the time. And my older family is either blind or are outdated on the new rules and practice set forth for safer driving. So, what I came down to was having a more complex and stricter checklist when conducting a driver’s test. Have the in person driving portion checked vigorously because nowadays they literally hand out licenses to anyone. Driver education is an asset to have while being behind any wheel of a vehicle. Knowing every sign, and marks on the street and side of the road can prevent you from having a serous injury or worse, death. Therefore, lets up the ante on both parts of the test, written and in person portion, so that we can make the streets and highways a safer place for all types of drivers.