Confidence On The Road

As we continue to grow and learn, life presents us with obstacles that can be absorbed and converted into knowledge. This knowledge can be taken for granted and underappreciated or it can be utilized to its fullest potential. Today about 91% of households own a car in the U.S.A making cars accessible to most of the population. While it’s wonderful that so many people can enjoy the advantages of owning a car, it’s important and necessary for everyone to feel comfortable and confident behind the wheel. This can be obtained by a certain level of confidence and trust drivers have on the road. Trust in themselves and their knowledge of driving, trust in others and their knowledge and finally trust in law enforcement to correctly identify when someone is too ignorant to be on the road. I believe that by instilling a higher expectation for drivers and their knowledge we can lower the number of accidents and fatalities. Nobody ever deserves to lose a friend or family member to ignorance behind the wheel. There are many things one can be ignorant about but when accepting the responsibilities of a driver, road safety cannot be one of them. This starts with simply holding each other accountable and not tolerating drivers who are unfit for the title.

Being confident in oneself creates opportunities to be a good role model for others. Confidence in driving is important and it comes from obtaining knowledge. Implementing more driving educational programs in high school will expose young drivers to the expectations they must uphold while on the road. These courses could simply be short programs that spread meaningful knowledge to teens that they can apply later when they obtain their driving permit or even longer courses that physically teach safe driving skills to students who are on their way to obtaining a license. Both would be useful for new drivers who can sometimes have low confidence in their driving abilities or students who are overconfident and naive. Implementing these courses could help ensure a generation of more educated drivers. Of Course, this is difficult and probably very expensive, but I still believe it’s possible to do something similar. For example, in today’s world, you can use a mobile app to purchase virtually anything from hot food from your favorite restaurant to a new sweater. Why can’t we use this same technique for driving instructors? A website that employs people, who follow certain criteria, to be driving instructors. Students can then sign up and join a course. This method could still be run through schools. The bottom line is that there are many ways and options for educating the youth on safe driving that should be popularized and normalized among young drivers because they are, after all, the drivers of tomorrow. Instilling this confidence at the youngest age possible is crucial.

The requirements to obtain a license are rather easy, in my experience, my local DMV doesn’t use any method of verification that you actually practiced a minimum number of hours required. That means a student driver could have very little to no experience driving. That same student driver could pass the test and still have little to know real applicable knowledge on the road. This leads to a driver who is not as confident on the road or maybe even too confident because they found the test extremely easy. As a student in high school, I’ve heard countless remarks like “I passed my drivers test and I only practiced once ” and “I only practiced parking” both very concerning now and for the future of our roads. It’s important that we make the process of learning how to drive seriously. Drivers should have to pass harder tests because simply driving around a parking lot does not prove a driver’s safety on the road. This would make students feel that they are expected to have a required level of knowledge other than turning the key and parking. I know my experience differs from others, especially during the pandemic, but I feel like even taking a few small steps could create a big difference in the future.

As a newer driver, I struggle with a lot of anxiety while on the road from my own driving and those around me. A lot of my friends are newer drivers and they have experienced this same anxiety. A lot of times we feel pressure to drive faster or pass cars in unsafe situations. This leaves us questioning why the laws are there in the first place? Why do people feel so comfortable breaking the law that they then pressure other drivers to follow? I have never personally experienced being in the car with someone driving irresponsibly but I have had countless occasions where the driver feels stressed and overwhelmed when they are simply following the law. It’s so normalized to “drive 10 above” and almost frowned upon to drive responsibly. This should be penalized more often so that more people can feel safe, comfortable, and confident while driving even if they are in a new situation. We should hold people accountable for their negligence on the road.

Though I struggle with this I still consider myself a rather confident driver because I am confident in my ability to follow the rules of the road. I will continue to hold people accountable for being ignorant behind the wheel as it’s not something that should be normalized and joked about. It’s important I uphold my responsibility behind the wheel. I won’t let the people around me take driving for granted because it is a privilege and should be treated so. Through the obstacles of life, we should be able to grow and learn and do better for ourselves and the future. Taking things like driving more seriously should be normalized.