Lesson Learned

In movies and television shows, the moment a teenager turns 16 years old, they are ready to hit the road and drive just like everyone else. The realization that we viewers fail to recognize is that many of these new drivers are inexperienced and serve as a threat to other, skilled drivers on the road. Each day, there are more and more news stories headlining a fatal crash or accident due to inattentive and careless driving. In 2022 alone, an estimated 43,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes. With proper driver education, we can work to reduce and eliminate these shocking analytics of deaths caused by distracted driving.

While many teens and adults will ignore the idea of taking driver education courses, they are ultimately putting themselves at higher risk when driving self-taught. Personally, I am very grateful for the driver education course I took this past year, especially since I received specialized one-on-one instruction on how to drive both safely and correctly. I got to experience real-life interactions on the road which better prepared me for the future. For example, during one of my driving lessons, a garbage truck broke down in front of me and couldn’t continue driving. My first instinct was to panic but instead my instructor told me to simply put on my hazards and move to the side of the street to create less obstruction in the road. This is a crucial lesson in driving since it can also be applied to the Move Over Law, specifically in New York State, which requires drivers to pull over and get out of the way of law enforcement and paramedic vehicles that are trying to get by in emergency situations. Without these tips, I wouldn’t know what to do in these moments and could possibly cause more harm than good, such as causing a fatal accident, when trying to figure out what to do.

In order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, I strongly believe that all occupants of a driver’s license should be legally required to pass a drivers education course run by a state-certified instructor. Simply paying attention to what you’re doing on the road is also an easy task us drivers can do to reduce fatal accidents. Furthermore, put your phone into Do Not Disturb mode to avoid looking at text messages or calls while driving. There is never a circumstance where you should be on your phone when driving or focused on another object other than the road in front of you.

The moment you think your inattention to the road for one moment wouldn’t cause any harm is the moment you cause an accident. I can confidently say that this statement is true since I have been in a car accident myself due to my own negligent driving. Only two weeks after I got my driver’s license, I was driving from school to work like normal with my music blasting through the speakers. Slowly but surely, the line of traffic came to a sudden stop instead of its usual constant flow while my mind was in a daze, thinking about homework I had to do later and what I was having for dinner. Once I realized, I couldn’t get my foot to switch from the gas to the brake fast enough and my chest slammed against the seatbelt while the front of my car was propelled into the back of the car in front of me. My jaw immediately dropped and I couldn’t believe what had just happened. As I pulled to the side of the road to assess the damage, all I could do was cry since I knew this was all my fault. This accident was a huge wake-up call for me since the woman in the car I hit was on the way to pick up her two young children from a daycare just up the street. My mind was relieved that nobody was hurt but inside my heart broke thinking I could’ve injured children if the accident had happened only a few minutes later. From then on, I promised myself I would never let my eyes leave the road again when I’m driving and road activity would be the only thing I am focused on. Ultimately, by utilizing your resources, such as driver education programs, and simply paying attention to the road when driving, you can become a smart and reliable driver while also advocating for others to create a safer driving environment worldwide.