Drive Safely, Live later

It goes without question that receiving a driver’s license is one of the best moments of an individual’s life, besides graduating high school and turning 21. To have the privilege to obtain and hold a piece of printed plastic that gives you the right to drive anywhere at any time (based on your age) is something that can be taken away if abused and used wrongly. Out of the many natural and non-natural causes of death, driving takes the lead as it kills thousands of people every single year. From new driving teenagers to cocky young adults, and even to those who are innocent, driving accidents create the most consistent deaths in all of the United States. Through this essay, it is my role to show why driving safely is so important so that one’s life can be preserved, and also share my personal thoughts on the current condition of driving.

In order for someone to obtain their driver’s license in Maryland, they have to first obtain their learner’s permit through the written test and to go through two weeks of driving school in order to schedule their in-car lessons, and then take the road test to obtain their provisional , which can be upgraded to a full license. Driving school is the key stage in one’s driving career as they hear stories and learn road etiquette from an instructor who has been through countless experiences in hopes that none of their students will be a part of the mortality rate of driving accidents. Driving school allows 3 hours of lectures and practical understandment for students to grasp when they first put themselves on the road. Through this lesson they can learn about different signs and their colors/shapes, the following distance required by vehicles, functions of the car and their dashboard icons, and many other topics. Without this essential part of one’s driving career, getting on the road blind will lead to misinterpretations of signs, which could result in judgment that could lead someone to impending danger. The stories and videos used by these instructors aren’t to discourage students from driving but to help them understand that your life is on the line based on the way you maneuver your vehicle. Just like school education is needed by students in order to understand different applications that can further them in their future careers, driving education is another example because you need to learn before you can apply. Although school education is more structured and safe from aspects of the real world, driving school makes you understand that you need to be mentally, physically, and emotionally awake before you set foot onto the road in a vehicle.

After driving school comes in-car lessons and practice for the new driver. Being book-smart on the road and putting in no practice won’t allow a driver to be efficient on the road, so needed practice is necessary so that the student can obtain comfortability with the car they use, their mirrors, and their critical thinking. It needs to be emphasized that everyone has a starting point no matter how much they know and don’t, as it creates a starting point to when they can start to drive by themself. Whether it’s starting in an empty parking lot or on non-busy streets, as long as the new driver is getting situated in the right way, they will prevail the more they practice. There is a term that many driving books and road instructors love to use when teaching new drivers and that is to “drive defensively”, meaning to not be aware of only yourself, but be aware of other drivers on the road as well. New drivers and even old ones, regardless of how long one has been driving for, need to understand that there are different types of people on the road, and they themselves are included. When you see someone swerving in and out of lanes, you need to take the initiative to think carefully and quick on what your next move is, whether it is to overtake and switch lanes or needing to use the car horn to let the person swerving know that they are putting you, themself, and other drivers at risk of an accident. Another step is to be patient with oneself, as many new drivers that are teenagers love to rush and do things fast. The more they do it, the easier it is to be prone to getting a ticket or to getting themself in an accident. Having road rage and being quick-tempered is only inviting death to one’s car and if it doesn’t happen to them, it can happen to anyone else. Taking a deep breath and carefully analyzing all your blind spots and the cars in front of you with a neutral emotional state will help drivers reach from point A to B safely.

The more I talk about driving education and ways to decrease the amount of deaths, I should add my own input that I too am a young adult who is also a new driver since last year May. Although I have not been in any accident so far, and I’m grateful for not experiencing any either, I do have my fair share of close run ins because of simple mistakes I’ve made. Even when I would sometimes forget to look both ways before turning onto a new street and even with the tendency to roll over at stop signs, there was one call where i was merging and although I didn’t see any car in my blind spot, my heart skipped a beat at a long autonomous car honk coming behind me. It was a month ago and even though I don’t recall seeing a car in my rear view or side mirrors, it instilled into me that truly anything can happen on the road if I’m not paying attention. I was once in a friend’s car going to an event when he would forcefully apply the brakes to certain beats of his song. Although everyone found it funny, I myself was praying in the backseat that a car wouldn’t tailgate us. I do wish that after the ride I talked to my friend right after but I decided to leave it alone. This is where the likelihood of death comes for teenagers and young adults. Without failing to address something done by yourself or someone in a vehicle that was inappropriate when on the road, nothing is stopping that same person from doing it again in the future. There is never something so urgent that you need to divert your full attention from your vehicle and the road because this is real life, with only one chance in this world. I myself need to realize that my own life isn’t to be played with, and those which I drive with, if I am aware of their sporadic driving behaviors, it is okay to decline a ride with them. Just like it is okay to say “no”, it is okay to hold off on that important call or that important text message from someone. There is truly nothing so important in an outside circumstance that should deviate someone who’s life is moving at fast speeds and accelerating after every second. If we as human beings can start to be more aware about the lives we hold and how easy we can lose them on a skill we use every single day, it can lessen the fear of not only new drivers, but also loved ones who wish to not see their new driver in a casket.