The War Against Drivers

The road is a dangerous place. But even more dangerous than that is the drivers’ seat. I remember the first time I sat in the driver’s seat. My mom was showing me how to use the brake and I hadn’t even gone a yard before I wanted out. Later, when I thought more deeply about the reasoning behind my instinctive reaction to flee the hot seat, I realized that it had to do with the weight of that responsibility. I felt ten years older sitting in that seat, ten pounds heavier. I know all about responsibility as the oldest of four kids. I set the example, I help around the house, I chauffeur my siblings places. I have power in this regard. Many great references have their own versions of “with great power comes great responsibility” – Spiderman, Winston Churchill, Voltaire, even the Bible – and they all flooded my brain as I so much as brushed the gas pedal. I know many teens first learning to drive don’t have this automatic understanding of the responsibility that comes with driving, and this is the main reason why driver’s education is so important. Additionally, it’s important for drivers to be aware of the way their brains function while driving and consequently, what things inhibit drivers from driving well.

There are some skills that are essential to driving. One is awareness of surroundings. Drivers have to know about what’s happening around them in order to make decisions and drive safely. One is coordination. This happens with practice, and is part of why learning to drive is so hard. The muscle memory and instinctiveness of driving is something experienced drivers often take for granted. But this is why young, new drivers utilize Drivers Education programs, so they can develop the coordination that goes with driving and driving well. And most importantly, focus. This isn’t something that can be taught. The constant modern-day cacophony of virtual connection wages war against our focus every day. But without focus, drivers simply can’t put their awareness of surroundings to good use, and a lack of focus is often the culprit of a crash.

These premises aside, here are some issues with the way we drive today, and some potentially new ideas to address in Driver’s Education courses.

In the world today, we talk a lot about texting while driving or drunk. And, yes, driving drunk is bad, but what about driving high? Drugs – no matter where they come from – put the human brain in a positive feedback loop demanding dopamine at every turn. This in turn inhibits brain function and decreases attention span – a big issue for drivers. Even smoking a single cigarette can trigger this drastic shortening of attention span. And why is this a problem? Because one of the key reasons drivers crash is because of a split-second loss of attention. My mom got rear-ended twice in one week by two drivers, both in turn lanes, who were simply not paying attention to the road in the split second when they should have stopped. I was in the car both times, so I was there for the aftermath. There was a lot of hassle for everyone. My mom spent hours on the phone filing insurance claims, scheduling appointments for car repair and estimates of service costs. I know many times in cases like these the implications are far more drastic, often involving injuries or even a pile-up, but all this time wasted could have been prevented had these drivers been able to keep their focus for just a millisecond longer, until they came to a complete stop. Neither of these people were drunk or high. One of them even had a child in the back seat. And they still crashed. Imagine how much harder it is for drivers to maintain focus while high, how many more crashes could be prevented if people knew about the dangers of driving high.

This is only one of many factors that make driving dangerous, and with the increasing distractions of our increasingly interconnected world, keeping control of one’s thoughts while driving is increasingly difficult. Have you ever gotten a notification while you were focused on something, and then you try to go back to focusing, but you can’t because your brain is still stuck on the fact that you have an unread notification? Over time our brains have become chemically wired for this response to distractions, and it can be particularly problematic while driving, especially for new drivers. Whether we realize it or not, all of the energy our brain spends thinking about that nagging notification is not spent on helping us make quick decisions on the road. The notification sends dopamine through our brains, which in turn makes us crave more, inhibiting our thinking. Most people think simply not looking at their phones while driving is good enough, but ultimately, having a phone with notifications on in the passenger seat is like actively drinking while driving. It has the same dopamine effect, and still inhibits decision-making. It should be standard practice to turn phones off, silence notifications, or activate driving mode while in the driver’s seat.

Another interesting thing people should be taught about driving is that they are far more likely to crash when they are getting really close to their destination. This sounds crazy, but it makes sense. Once we almost get where we are going, our brains relax in anticipation. It’s like when you get home after a long day of work or school and your mind is already in bed, despite the fact that the day is not over. It is important that drivers be especially mindful of how their environments and decisions impact how they drive, and a key part of learning this is through the Driver’s Education process.

All this being said, as technology evolves, some people think there will – eventually – be no market for human drivers. But there is an element of driving that should be taught to students even when all cars are automated, if only for moral reasons. Learning to drive teaches students so many things besides just the motions of driving. It teaches discipline, mindfulness of surroundings, the necessity of making split-second decisions, so many pieces of responsibility that come with freedom, as well as the potential immorality of carelessness. Careless driving costs lives, and not always those of the careless driver in question. If nothing else, driver education is important for students so that they have experience with how seemingly small acts can deeply affect others.

There are many reasons driver’s education is important in an increasingly fast-paced world, and luckily there are many ways to facilitate safe driving on a small and large scale. I could put some big number here about how many deaths by automobile happen every year, but more importantly is how many people are affected by these tragedies. You would be hard-pressed to find someone of driving age who doesn’t know of someone who was injured or killed in a car crash – this, despite the fact that no driver wants to crash. No driver wants to be responsible for the death of another person. So it’s about time we started acting like it by increasing awareness of cognitive processes and inhibitors that affect the way we drive.