Goal: Get Home Safely

Nothing illustrates more clearly the need for professional drivers’ education than 15-year-old two weeks into drivers ed correcting their parent’s driving skills on the drive to the grocery store. The 30 hours in the classroom and 6 hours behind the wheel with a qualified instructor gave me the solid foundation that has kept me safe for the last two years. Our parents aren’t bad drivers by any means. They have just found a level of variability around traffic laws that they find comfortable. But as a student driving for the first time you don’t want to learn that way and possibly compound their idiosyncrasies to the point of being unsafe. After my driver’s safety course I spent the next eight months driving my parents everywhere to get the practice I needed to build the confidence to be a solo driver. My mother and father are two very different drivers, but I was able to find the tips and tools in their instruction that work for me. From my mother, I have learned never to be in a hurry and leave lots of space. Getting pulled over or having an accident will always make you later. From my father, I have learned to always be super aware of other drivers and be ready with a plan to avoid whatever stupid thing they are going to do next. They both love to point out drivers that are playing with their phones while driving as examples of what not to do.

In driver’s ed, I learned the actual letter of the law and its intention. I was instructed in tried and true driving techniques that helped establish solid, safe habits. The hours behind the wheel ensured that I will never stop SMOG-ing (signal, mirrors, over the shoulder, go). I learned to drive in a car without a bunch of fancy safety tools like backup cameras and distance sensors. Because not every car I drive in my life will have them. My instructors were calm and always corrected any mistakes with the same exact message. They took me to unmarked intersections, tricky curves, and confusing highway exits so I wouldn’t be encountering difficult situations for the first time on my own. Above all, they continually held me to a high standard when executing all these new skills because in certain conditions this could be the difference between life and death.

As an added bonus, my classroom instructor was another grown-up who reminded me and my fellow students that we had adults who cared for us and would be there to help. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have signed us up for this course. Their goal in having us take this class was to increase the odds that we would always make it home safely. Which meant he also instructed us not only to never drive drunk but never get in the car with a driver who has been drinking. And don’t forget the very long lecture about not driving while playing with our phones. There is nothing on that screen worth wrecking your car or possibly killing yourself or another person. It will still be there when you are safely parked at your destination. He shared stories of the causes of actual car crashes he oversaw when he was a police officer. The ones with a bad outcome but also the crashes that when using the techniques they taught us were able to avoid serious injury. He was able to instill in us the great responsibility that comes with operating a motor vehicle on a road filled with other humans also just trying to get where they are going.

I have been driving independently for almost a year now. I live near a large, busy port that regularly requires me to navigate the roads with semi-trucks, caterpillar equipment, and oversized loads. Just past that port are steep hills where I always remember to turn my tires in and engage my emergency brake when I parallel park. My phone never leaves my bag until I am safely parked. My parents have confirmed they will always come to pick me up no questions asked if I find myself in a position where I shouldn’t drive or get in the car with another driver who has made poor choices. There have been close calls where I have had to maneuver around an erratic driver. There have been weather conditions where I need to adjust my approach to speed and stopping at intersections. There have even been times when I have made a mistake and needed to self-correct. Through all of these events, my driver’s education training played a significant role in keeping me safe. Our roads would be a safer place to be if everyone was given the same opportunity to learn as I was.