The Mario Method

It was the summer of 2011, my older sister and I were neck and neck. I could feel a bead of cold sweat running down my forehead. I had never been this close to beating her. She had three years of experience on me and she never let up. I could tell she was aware that I was gaining on her because she kept swerving in front of me. Finally, we were approaching the last big turn in the track. This would be my last chance to slide in front of her and cross the finish line. She cut the turn sharply in front of me and I bumped the rear of her vehicle. I began to spin out of control and had to crank the wheel to counter steer and get back on the right course. I wasn’t the only one trying to correct, however, she too was flailing and attempting to right herself and reach the finish line. I slammed on the gas and prayed I could make it, my sister did the same and at that exact moment, my mom stepped into the living room.

“Do you guys want empanadas or arepas for dinner tonight?” she asked us, not realizing she was distracting from the single most important Mario Kart race of my life. The split second I turned to look at my mom gave my sister the opportunity to blast herself across the finish line. She won, and yet again, and gave me her signature smirk. That smirk haunted my dreams then, and it still haunts me. Everytime I make a mistake while driving, I can see that smirk. That smirk pushes me to use every driving opportunity to be the best I can be, to never make a mistake, and to impress her when I am driving her around.

As strange as it is to say, I believe it is the years of playing Mario Kart with my siblings while we were growing up that helped me be the driver I am today. I don’t mean that I race other drivers or that I throw banana peels out of the window, but that those experiences helped prepare my expectations and limitations. I knew that I needed to focus, I needed to make sure my seat was well positioned, drowsiness negatively impacted my performance, practice makes perfect, and that the biggest dangers to me were other drivers, weather conditions, and wildlife on the road. Not to mention that it is important not to let the opinions of those around you cloud your judgment. Before I had ever even sat in the driver’s seat of a car, I already knew some of the most crucial information a driver could have. I was then able to use this information and build upon it using my driving experiences and advice from my instructors and parents. The way I learned to drive referencing my base knowledge from a video game got me thinking. I began to wonder if other kids could benefit from a similar procedure, and if we replicated my experience, would we be able to prevent accidents or even deaths on the roads?

I propose that Driving Education professionals should travel to schools of children aged 10-18 years old and give them a crash course in driving safety, and that will decrease the amount of driving-related deaths in the US. This crash course could include three parts: 1) Lecture and Tips, 2) Practice and Competing, 3) Conclusion and Finale. The first portion would be a presentation explaining how many deaths occur a year in the US due to driving related incidents. They could demonstrate that many, if not most, of these deaths could be prevented and why. Then the educators could coach the students on how to avoid dangerous situations, how to react to a variety of obstacles, and how to get help when needed. Next, the educators could give the kids a more tangible lesson in driving, this is what the second portion includes. The kids could take turns practicing driving using a safe driving simulator. Once everyone has had a turn, the students would break into groups and compete against each other to drive as safely as possible. The winners should be rewarded with candy, giftcards, or even pens and lanyards. To conclude the activities, the educators could quickly review the safe driving tips and open up to questions the students might have. And as a sparkling finale, the students could play Mario Kart or another racing game in the time remaining. This process will prove efficient because it balances the learning aspects with proper reward, which is conducive to motivation and engagement. The students can look forward to it because they will be having just as much fun as they will be learning, dramatically increasing their attentiveness and participation.

With this procedure in action, I hope that by introducing students who are below the driving age, they can take away important safety tips so that they will enter their first driving experiences with a strong foundation of knowledge. We must plant the seeds of safe driving in order to grow and blossom a generation of America’s safest drivers. With the Mario Method we can change, and save, lives.