Rain, Buses, and Other Tales from a New Jersey Driver

Imagine you’re 16, you just got your license, and you’re cruising with the windows down on a beautiful summer day. Your friends are bopping to the song of the summer and everyone is having a good time as you come up to a yellow school bus letting off some summer school kids. You, who didn’t pay attention in driver’s ed and only wanted to get a license so you could go out and have some fun, overtake the bus on the left, completely missing the stop sign pointing out from the bus’ window. And that’s when your world changes as an unsuspecting 5th grader runs across the road to go home. Screaming, police sirens, medical bills, crying parents, all of a sudden your summer of fun turns into a summer of court cases and ruined lives. This is why driver education is so important: to give people the freedom to go places while keeping safe the lives of others on the road. Luckily, this never happened to me, but I have been in a few situations where an outcome like this was just around the corner had I not known any better. Informed drivers who know to stop for buses and how to safely overtake vehicles are more apt to be safe drivers, thereby reducing the number of driving-related deaths. If we want to live in a world where driving-related deaths don’t equal the death tolls of major American wars, then we need to emphasize education in our young and aging drivers.

There are steps that you and I can take to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. For one, simply leaving yourself enough time in the morning can greatly reduce the risk of getting into an accident. Eating your jam on toast, curling your hair, and getting dressed should remain in the home, not the car seat. If you wake up a couple minutes earlier, you will have plenty of time to get ready so you can completely focus on your drive to school or work in the morning. You also won’t have to speed in fear of the late bell or boss’ scowl as you would have plenty of time to be there before the clock strikes the hour. Another thing you can do to help reduce the number of driving-related deaths is forget your phone even exists. There is no reason you should be on your phone while driving when those texts and phone calls can be returned as soon as you reach your destination. iPhones have a focus mode that prevents notifications from appearing while you’re driving, and there are countless apps for all devices that can be downloaded to prevent distractions from pinging on your phone while driving. And, you won’t have to worry about missing an emergency because there are special settings that allow emergency calls to come through, in which case you should pull over before picking up the call. One last step you can take is being smart about your nights out. Bars and parties should automatically be venues where you call for Ubers or Lyfts home. You won’t have to worry about drunk driving, and you can have as much fun as you want without putting anyone’s life in danger. These are just a few ways we can help reduce the number of driving-related deaths on the road.

Car accidents are not new to me. Thankfully, none have resulted in serious injury or bodily harm, but driving in New Jersey calls for a special kind of pilot if you want to survive on these roads. One time, on my way to school, it had just started raining and my sister and I were running late. Our main street has an underpass, and on this particular day there was a lot of traffic. I was just entering the underpass when the car ahead of me slammed on their brakes. I quickly lead-footed mine, but the wet roads caused me to slide and rear-end the driver in front of me. By God’s mercy, there was no serious damage to either of our cars and the woman forgave me and left without calling the cops. But, it was my fault for not being alert to the wet road conditions and my place on a downward sloping hill on the road. It’s education on these types of situations that will chip away at the driving-related death toll.

If you want to help others be safer on the road, you have to first be the change you want to see. It starts with knowing simple things like that the road is the most slippery 10 to 15 minutes after raining or stopping when an ice cream truck or school bus has their stop sign raised. You don’t have to expose yourself to the horror of New Jersey drivers to be a safer driver on the road. It’s my hope that young drivers like myself and others my age will take the initiative to protect themselves on the road by being smart about their driving. Driving doesn’t have to be a leading cause of death, and I know it can be greatly reduced if steps like the ones described are taken to heart by every new and old driver on the road today.