Be The Car You Want to See on The Road

I don’t think people fully recognize the responsibility they take on once they get behind the wheel. What seems like fun and games to some people can be the difference between life and death for many others. I, personally, once fell in the group of people who see driving as a fun, stress-reducing activity. It’s hard to keep this perspective when faced with facts such as some of the shocking statistics seen on the information page of this very scholarship:

In America, an average of 34,000 people die each year as a result of driving. This is more people who have died in one year as a result of driving, than the total number of American soldiers who have died from war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. The total number of Americans who die within the span of two years as a result of driving is more than the total number of American deaths from the Vietnam war.

To read this with the image of war in the back of my mind— an unfortunate act in which death is inevitable and sometimes sought after— and compare that to a daily activity that millions take part of; it is truly shocking that something I once saw as fun can be so perilous. So why don’t we take the responsibility of driving more seriously?

In New York State, it is mandatory to take a 5-hour course in order to get your drivers’ license. During this 5-hour class, an instructor will play videos and relay testimonials of those who have been seriously impacted by an unsafe driver in some of the worst ways imaginable. What may seem like hours of fear mongering to few, holds so much importance in hindsight. Driver education is extremely vital in reducing the number of driving-related deaths. Depending on age, there are currently 37 states that require a mandatory drivers’ education class (“WSRDEGL” 1). One state that does not fall under this list is Alabama. A state that, in 2020, saw a car crash reported every 3 minutes and 55 seconds, and every 9 hours and 20 minutes, one of these crashes was fatal (Alabama Dept of Transportation, 1). As someone who grew up in the Bronx, this information takes me by surprise. I wonder how a state I see as rural has such a frequent occurrence of crashes and assume it must be so much worse in my home state. Alabama has a population of 5,049,846 and in 2021 there were 6.5 motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 people in the state. If we were to compare this to the aforementioned New York State that does mandate a drivers’ education course to obtain a license; one would be shocked to learn that the state with a population of 19,857,492 only sees 5.8 motor vehicle fatalities per 100,000 (USDTFARS 1). This goes to show that drivers’ education can play a huge role in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. Even in a state as busy as New York, home of the city that never sleeps, with a population of 4 times that of rural Alabama, there were less motor vehicle fatalities. There are many factors that can play a role in this, and we may never know the exact causes behind the comparisons of these statistics but one thing can be sure; NYS mandates driver’s education to be licensed and Alabama does not.

I have experienced a car accident or two in my past but was lucky enough for them to be very minor. What changed my perspective on driving, however, was a change in occupation. I am currently a bus monitor for special needs children with ages ranging from 2 to 6. Being on a bus for hours at a time and watching the questionable driving choices of the cars around me while looking at the faces of my young, helpless children not only changed my view on driving as a whole but how I drive as well. A lot of the children on my buses have a series of diagnoses that alter the way they view the world around them. I, myself, suffer from anxiety and panic disorder. When I am in a car with a friend that chooses to look at their phone or I get zoomed past by a driver who prioritizes their destination over their safety, I can experience a panic or anxiety attack that can feel like dying. This makes me take my job more seriously as the children I monitor are in jeopardy of similar and sometimes worse reactions when our bus is passed by a speeding vehicle on the road, or a truck forgets to signal a turn and we have to break short. My best advice for any driver is to be the car you want to see on the road. If you take the time consuming but necessary steps to keep an eye on your speed, constantly observe the roads around you, use your indicators, mind any signs that require a change in your driving pattern, and keep a safe distance from the car ahead of you, you can make choices that can save lives. Not just your life or my own but also the lives of children like the ones I see every day. Sitting on a bus and watching hundreds of cars pass my bus can be intimidating as you never know if you will be that 5.8th person per 100,000 people in the state to be a victim or even the cause of a fatal motor vehicle incident. We don’t always have the choice to be on the road with the day to day requirements people must meet in their lives but we do have a choice with how we behave on the road and how that impacts those around us.