What Does Safe Driving Cost You?

Driving a car is one of single most important privileges a person is granted in their life. Similar to purchasing your first alcoholic drink at 21, or registering to vote at 18. It’s an important milestone that everyone strives to reach. But the achievement comes with great, great responsibility. Sometimes the excitement of driving your car alone on the road for the first time as a teen overwhelms your senses you don’t make the smartest decisions. In fact, “new drivers aged 16-19 are 4x more likely to get in an accident that adults who have more experience” (“Teen Driver Accident Stats.). Driver education, just like the privilege to drive, is one of the single most important lessons a person needs to be taught. It prevents accidents that sometimes lead to death, it allows new drivers to evaluate their decisions, and teaches drivers, old and new alike, how to stay safe on the roads.

I remember when I was 15, sitting in my room going through my aceable lessons as quickly as possible so I could finally, finally, go to the DPS and get my permit. I must admit, I swiped through those lessons as soon as the time limit was up, sometimes keeping Ace on mute and multi-tasking while doing my drivers ed. I didn’t realize just how vital all the information that was being given to me was. A few days later, I took my permit test on Aceable and got a 52%. Yes, take that in, a 52 on my drivers ed exam. Questions such as “who has the right of way at a 4-way stop” and “how far away from the turn must you use your indicator?” That’s all stuff that a driver needs to know, and the time I saved not reading those lessons only worked against me. The government doesn’t require you to be 15 before you operate a motor vehicle for no reason. We are not required to sit in these long lessons for the fun of it. We’re being taught things that we will use forever, cause that’s how long you’ll be driving. If I hadn’t retaken those lessons, if I hadn’t redone my test, imagine what a disruptful and dangerous driver on the roads I could’ve been.

Paying attention to your drivers ed is just the first step to becoming a safe driver on the roads. You also need to make a choice, every time you get behind the wheel, to stay safe. Getting too comfortable when behind the wheel can end up being a cause of car accidents. Unfortunately, it’s just as important that you listen to the people in you car if and when they’re observing your driving. They can notice small, inadvertent things about the way you drive and while it seem like a personal insult, they’re only pointing it out to keep you and others safe. You as the driver, are responsible for every single passengers safety. There are also of course fundamental steps and rules to abide to as well. Fasten your seatbelt, check your mirrors and your blindspot, avoid distractions while your driving, don’t text and drive, don’t drink and drive, and several more. At the end of the day, those few moments you spent letting the car beside you in will seem like nothing.

I remember when I was in 9th grade, there was a senior basketball player who was tragically killed in a car accident near the school. His name was Myles Hutcheson and in honor of him, Cedar Park started a campaign “Live Like Myles”. It encourages students to not only drive safe and responsibly while on the road, but to spend their free time helping others in need. Whether it’s by offering your services and time to someone else, or with just a simple note saying “I love you, #LLM.” That small campaign means a lot to the people of Cedar Park and we highschool have vowed to stay safe and responsible while driving, and that’s a very important thing. While the accident itself didn’t impact me personally, seeing how the school and community reacted was. That message becomes much more relevant to me now that I’ve taken on the responsibility of driving, just changing your mindset can save so many people from being unsafe on the road. By accepting that responsibility and working to stay accountable of myself and anyone of the passengers in the car, I can Live Like Myles.

Driving is a huge responsibility and sometimes the importance of stopping in time at a yellow light or going the speed limit even if you’re in a rush gets, put on the backburner. Practicing being a safe driver, doesn’t cost you much at all, because in the grand scheme of things, a person’s life is worth so much more than anything we have to give up. We all need to remember just how many lives could potentially be saved because of our diligence on the roads.