Watch where your going

When I was seven, I got hit by a car. I remember waking up in a yellow taxi huddled tightly in my parents’ arms. In my head, I was this tough little kid who survived getting hit by a car, but I never realized the gravity of the situation until a couple of years ago. I was so lucky to worry about insignificant things like not being able to swim for a month from injuries than worrying about what if I died. What if that day my parents and brother had to worry about planning a funeral for their seven-year-old daughter? I remember standing on the dotted yellow lines in the middle of the road, trapped with my body being indifferent to my wants. I felt like a deer in headlights. It’s a feeling I never want anyone else to imagine or have anyone witness.

As sixteen-year-olds or even the elderly start to learn how to drive they have decisions to make and ones to avoid to be safe on the road. These days ride share apps exist to make sure transportation is safe and efficient without the risks of drinking while driving or unsafe situations. All my life I’ve never seen my mom in the driver’s seat, whether it’s fear or learned experiences she recognized through her past experiences that driving in NY is not for her. Making my dad always the designed driver and always having the complicated task of focusing on the road while listening to the passengers of his car go about their lives sometimes for hours at a time. But that time in the taxi was different, my dad was holding me in the backseat of one of those iconic yellow NYC taxis. I just remember thinking “ why isn’t my dad driving?”. Now I realize it because he was emotional and could have unsafe choices on the road, so he and my mom opted for a taxi.

This year I will be taking Drivers Education classes and going through the process of obtaining a license to drive in the state of New York. Getting a NY license is hard for a reason; the permit test you must study for to get a NY learner’s permit, the 5-hour pre-licensing course, and then the road test itself you must prepare for often leave people wanting extra practice. Earlier this year in January in New York City drivers are not required to stop for pedestrians until they fully crossed the railway at intersections, even if there are no traffic controls. Laws like this, even if they do seem strict, could save so many lives if followed.

In World War II my dad’s parents enlisted in the Chinese military, they saw firsthand what war was like. Sometimes we look over their war metals when we talk about how much I resemble my grandmother. Speaking of wars, Vietnam was highly publicized and the fact that every two years the resulting deaths from car accidents are the same as in the Vietnam war is terrifying. We are fighting a lasting battle for automobile safety on our streets, 276 million cars and counting in the US hold the lives of American citizens in their hands. It’s the average of 34,000 deaths per year that the Washington Post won’t have to leak because we are all aware of the dangers that come with driving and yet there are still things to do to prevent car accidents. Starting with educating kids young about the dangers of cars and following the light signals.

Having set rules in the car helps lower the risks of a car accident. Such as not opening the lock screen when you aren’t parked and things such as not taking your eyes off the road even for a beautiful sunset. I find that listening to some brown noise in the background of driving helps me with focusing. Tunning out the many things going on in the car, so my full attention can be focused on the road. I want to learn all things involving car maintenance before being along the road. Prioritizing car maintenance will help me, in the long run, to make sure my car is up to speed with everyone else’s on the road. Changing my car’s oil and filters, checking the battery, making sure all the turn signals and parking lights are working, and knowing how to do routine things such as changing a car’s tire. I find these things specifically help me not feel like a deer in headlights, it makes me feel like I can manage my vehicle.

Drivers Education teaches the rules of the road. Entering the road is so much more different than what we’ve been used to and accustomed to. There are new rules, new laws, and new obstacles that we have to prep for. The delicacy of driving a car compared with consistent schooling is structured much differently; one mistake on the road doesn’t mean failing it could mean the differences between a life on the road or a life in a hospital bed. Drivers Education makes us aware of these rules and makes it so that we are properly educated before making a choice on the road or the choice to be on the road. This time there will be no waking up in the back of yellow taxis, there will be no standing on the dotted yellow lines, and there will be no failing my road test with the help of Drivers Ed.