Driving for Life

Driving is something that almost every person of age does every day without even thinking much about it. Teenagers can’t wait until they’re able to do it by themselves. To me, driving is more than a right or privilege, it’s a major responsibility and makes a driver feel powerful. As the famous quote in Spiderman goes, “with great power comes great responsibility!” I realize that responsibility every time I get behind the wheel.

I began desperately wanting to learn to drive when I was about 11 or 12 years old. Because I was a tall kid, I knew I was already of size physically to drive. What I failed to realize at that time was that I was not mentally mature enough to drive. Although I caught on to the mechanics of driving very easily and quickly, it took me a while to catch on to the more important mental skills and nuances involved with driving.

I learned that driving can never become so mundane or “natural” to a driver that he/she no longer takes thought of what he/she is doing. As a driver, you must keep your senses tuned in to your surroundings at all times. As my Mom always told me, “you’re not only driving for yourself; you’re driving for the other driver as well.” It took me a while to fully understand what she meant by that saying. Then, I began to notice other drivers not obeying the rules of the road. I saw drivers rolling through stop signs, barreling through red lights, passing in dangerous curves, speeding and tailing other drivers too closely, pulling out in front of other vehicles, and swerving out of their own lanes. One thing I began to notice more and more was the great number of drivers, both young and old, texting on their cell phones while driving. Texting and driving have become synonymous these days and is extremely dangerous. That momentary distraction can cause a driver to lose control unexpectedly and could result in death for the driver or others.

I also noticed that many of my classmates take no thought to taking a drink (illegally at our age) and then driving themselves around. They seem to think they have everything under control, but they underestimate the power of that drink on their judgment and reaction times while driving. One sad example of this lies in the story of one of my classmates and good friend. She was out joy riding late one night with a group of other friends when the truck they were in, driven by a teen who had taken a drink and thought he was in control enough to continue driving, hit a ditch and rolled over several times. Thankfully, everyone lived, although some were injured more than others. She was thrown from the vehicle and almost lost her life. She was transported to a trauma hospital and had to have emergency surgery, followed by many other surgeries, including regular physical rehabilitation. It has now been 18 months and she has regained the use of her limbs and mental faculties but is still in a wheelchair unable to walk. That is a huge price to pay because of an impaired driver. You would think that this extreme tragedy would serve as a stark reminder and warning for other teens in our circle, but some of them continue to drink and attempt to drive. I do not choose to drink and would not dare get in a vehicle with a driver who has taken even one drink. Life is too valuable.

I love my freedom of driving and enjoy driving independently. I would not do anything to endanger that. I always drive as if my life depended on my actions because it does. I make sure I drive with patience, deep concentration, and focus on what I am doing, and in a defensive manner to make up for all the bad and unfocused drivers on the roads every day. Although I have the skills to drive and the state says I am legally able to operate a vehicle safely, I still feel the need to continually learn and become a stronger and more alert driver every day.

Driving is a lifetime skill, so learning never stops. Learning continues throughout our driving lifetimes. No driver masters driving completely. There is always more to learn to become even more of an all-around safe driver. We all want to reach our destinations safely and live to drive another day. Drive for life!