Don’t crash your car

During the first nine weeks of my senior year of high school, we read “The Great Gatsby.” Little did my teacher know that in elementary school I was voted “ravenous reader” by my peers, and I drank up that 1920s glitz and stupidity like it was fruit punch on a summer’s day. I was Daisy Buchanan for halloween. I thought it was a silly and quirky move, maybe hoping to score a few extra credit points from my teacher. However, I found myself being haunted by this character, this Daisy Buchanan, the perpetrator of vehicular manslaughter. Every time I would drive to school I would think: it is so easy to accidentally kill someone, and everyday I would think that maybe I’d been cursed by F. Scott Fitzgerald to lead a life of obsession and duplicity. Worst of all, my focus on this book made me distracted, which made me dangerous, which made me more like Daisy Buchanan than ever before. A self-fulfilling prophecy. All that to say, recklessness is a disease inflicted onto every human, one that is so deadly because it is so easy.

An educated driver saves lives because it curbs this recklessness. Knowledge of the roads and laws makes a person more confident and less likely to do stupid things like drive the wrong way down the street. Like most people I did an online driving program as well as real life on the road practice in order to get my driver’s license. However, while my online schooling was a good basis it was boring, and my attention was easily captured elsewhere. This may seem like a me problem, but I would argue it is a common one. The accessibility of these online courses is great, however, how effective they are I’m not sure. Engagement in students is critical when learning anything. Most knowledge I have of driving is through actually being behind the wheel myself. In these cases new drivers are educated by someone, a more experienced driver, usually their parents. The quality of this instructor is probably the most critical. A calm, experienced, and understanding instructor is the most important part to counter the ignorance of a new driver. This hands-on learning builds the confidence that staring at a computer screen does not, and is critical to a well rounded driver’s education experience.

Once my friend crashed his car into a lamppost because he was trying to stop a cake from falling into his lap while he made a sharp turn. Distractions can come from anywhere so it can be a hard thing to control. However, when people race down the highway because they fear they’ve become late for an appointment, or when they turn away to check their texts, or when their friends sing loudly to their favorite song, these are situations that people can learn to control. This way, preventing deaths takes a bit of self advocacy. Leave early for appointments or accept being late. People must learn to turn their phone off. Better yet, put it away, in a bag, in the back seat, so that it is impossible to check without being a hassle. Turn the music down and tell the loud friends to shut up. Driving is dangerous but it’s not thought of as dangerous because it’s so normal. The risk and cost evaluation that people go through in many other taxing situations seems to have become lax in driving. It is hard to assert one’s self discipline in times like this, the reward of looking at one’s phone seems to outweigh the harm in looking away from the road. Experience is a good teacher, but it also makes people arrogant.

If driving wasn’t the only option for people this mindset might alter. Is driving problematic? Well, stop driving. Expanding public transportation to be broader and more accessible could be a long term solution to the high death tolls of driving as well as a way to modernize communities for a more eco-friendly future. However, this is a harder goal to meet and to take part in. It requires political action and a need for people to become more involved in their governments and communities. Again education plays a key role in this situation. Education on how to make a change, how to communicate with local lawmakers, how to petition, and how to advocate. This is something that could be taught in schools. I’m only now learning about government in depth as a senior in highschool, but if these concepts are taught earlier and with more emphasis, youths might realize their own political efficacy.

As individuals, we all have a role to play, and that is not the role of Daisy Buchanan, perpetrator of vehicular manslaughter. It is one that is knowledgeable and self-disciplined. Almost as important as being a good driver, I try to be a good passenger. I won’t annoy my friends or family while they drive, even though I like the attention, their eyes should be on the road and not me. When behind the wheel myself I will plan ahead so I will know where I’m going and my attention is on driving and not on google maps. To further cultivate the ultimate calm driving environment, I won’t go out for a drive if I’m tired or angry or experiencing an emotional breakdown. It is hard to be prepared for every possible contingency but spotting and managing risks is a responsibility that I hold myself to, and I think every driver is capable of as well.