My Driver’s Education Experience

  My driver’s education experience starts with my father. My mother worked with me some, but it was really my father that started me out in the parking lot of North Crowley high school in Texas. We would go around and around practicing hand-over-hand turning, learning how to accelerate, and come to a gradual stop. My dad would always tell me to come to a stop like you’re driving a VIP in the back seat, to always make your passengers feel comfortable. It took almost two months before he would let me drive on the neighborhood streets, and I even had a learner’s permit. I would often tell him I was ready for some street action, but he would say, “I’ll let you know when you’re ready.” He would always tell me that our car is 4,000 lbs. and he didn’t want me to kill someone or get hurt. 

     In the summer of my freshman to sophomore year we were driving to Mathnasium for my tutoring session when I witnessed a car accident right in front of me! We were stopped at a red light in the left lane, and I wasn’t paying attention to the car next to us on our right side until this lady drove into the intersection in front of our car next to us. There was a minivan that DID NOT STOP! The lady in the minivan had hit this small silver car on the passenger side going fast enough to push it into the center of the intersection, and she ran a red light. The lady in the small silver car appeared to be ok. I’ll never forget what my dad did next, he pulled slowly out into the intersection, rolled our windows down, looked at the driver in the minivan and told her loudly, “Now you know that was your fault right!” The lady looked at him in the eyes and put her hands up in the air and I could tell she was saying, “I know.” Seeing this happen has made me very nervous when I am driving now and cars approach an intersection where I’m crossing it, and they don’t seem to slow down fast enough. I really respect how my father taught me to take my time. He would say, “If you’re important, they will wait.” This would be his reasoning for not being in a rush while he was driving and taking his time. He would impress upon me to be responsible and plan ahead so if there were traffic delays I would not panic. 

     We moved to Indiana during Covid, and I finished up my driver’s education with a private driving school and when the owner would take me out and let me drive, she would always compliment me on how relaxed I was, how I followed the rules of the road, and that she felt comfortable when I would drive her around the local traffic circles and merge into heavy traffic. Some of my high school friends have had accidents due to their driving habits, but my dad would also tell me that I have two choices, drive responsibly, or walk! Well, I prefer to drive. I passed my drivers exam for the first time and had many compliments. The only thing I had to work on was my parallel parking and that is because most people in Texas don’t park this way. 

     Now I drive everywhere and the car my dad lets me use will hopefully be mine in another year when I’m a junior in college. He says I have to earn the right to drive it by focusing on my education first. I must be honest though; I do my best to follow the speed limit and pack plenty of patience. However, I backed into the wall in a parking garage, this was new to me, and I wanted to try it using my mirrors. My dad is AWESOME at doing this. However, this time when I parked by backing into a spot, I got too close to the wall and bumped causing a slight rash and the bumper and YES, my dad noticed! He wasn’t mad, but he reminded me that even at slow speeds my car is still dangerous and that he’s glad I didn’t hit someone or get hurt. Lesson learned, now I have a slight rash on my bumper and it acts as a reminder to always think “SAFETY” and that I want a clean car without blemishes!