Learning from Experience

I remember the green light. I remember my dad cursing as the other car hit the driver side. I remember the car filling with smoke. I remember my dad telling me to get out. I remember grabbing my backpack and my track bag and throwing it over to the corner of the intersection. I remember the cop asking questions to us and the old man who hit us. I remember the ambulance and the nice paramedic who made sure I didn’t have a concussion. I remember hugging my mom once she arrived. I remember texting my manager that I couldn’t come to work. I remember the three-ply patch of gauze on my face between the icepack and the bloody gash and black eye on the right side of my face where the airbag had left its mark.

Most of the details faded away within a few days from the blur and shock.

My face resembled that of Scarface from Batman or maybe the bloody volleyball named Wilson from Cast Away. I kept a supply of Aquaphor on the gash as often as possible to facilitate healing. The injury faded pretty well within a week.

My dad bruised his ribs and had the emblem of the Nissan logo printed into the skin of his hand from the steering wheel airbag exploding. He healed within a month.

The car that had been crumpled inwards and completely totaled was replaced within the month as well.

But the hesitation at stepping into a car and the constant head swivels and the comments to slow down and be careful? Those lasted at least a year.

And somehow, we were the lucky ones.

People die from car accidents every single day. This year, one of my friends’ friends from another state died in a collision. On the first of January no less. Even though I had significant distance from the situation at hand, I felt it immensely. This was a boy my age, a runner like me, with a captivating personality that shone through each video his friends posted on social media. The story breaks my heart.

It also makes me think. Was the person who hit him under the influence? Were they a capable driver or were they unfit for the wheel like the elderly man who hit me and my dad? Were they properly trained? Did they understand the importance of caution and attentiveness on the road?

Drivers education is one of the most important factors contributing to safety on the streets. By driving with professionals who are well versed in the laws and regulations, we can ensure that we are following the rules created to keep us safe. Drivers ed also provides an environment that inhibits one from becoming distracted on the road, developing safe habits. Habits that could prevent many many deaths.

However, when we finish drivers ed, we are often left to our own devices for the years to come. Much of the knowledge we were taught and assessed on, some of the more menial laws, slip from our knowledge as the years go by. A possible solution to this that could prevent further fatalities would be requiring proficiency on a brief test each time someone renews their license that assesses some of these laws.

Additionally, within the scopes of drivers education itself, the simple creation of a compact list of some of these laws to provide for students would allow drivers to brush up over the years without having to fight through any heavy legal jargon.

Of course, it must be addressed that the lack of understanding menial laws is not the main source of car collisions today. Instead, a general lack of awareness contributes to most injuries and fatalities. While we cannot control the mindset of other drivers, we can control our own attentiveness on the road. My car accident was not the fault of my dad’s driving, but as they say, it takes two to tango. If my dad had looked to his left for a brief moment before entering the intersection, he may have registered the car that was not stopping and he may have stopped, allowing the car to pummel through the intersection without having been hit himself. Creating more emphasis on this idea in drivers education could prevent accidents in the future.

After my car accident, I became a much more attentive driver: cautious around corners, hands off my phone, careful with turn signals and headlights. While some of my fear has faded in the past three years, the majority of these habits remain, making me a safer driver overall.

I have seen firsthand the danger of distracted driving perpetuated by poor drivers education or having had drivers ed too long ago to remember many of the laws meant to keep us safe. Drivers education is critical in protecting the lives of ourselves and loved ones, but it can still be improved. Until then, I will continue to stay focused and attentive on the road, driving at safe times in safe conditions, protecting myself and those around me.