Dad’s Driving Lessons

I
am a high school senior who is applying for as many scholarships as
possible to help pay for college. Scholarship essay topics have been
mundane and boring until I came across the Drivers ed
Initiative Award. This topic is near and dear to my heart and I
couldn’t be any more excited to start typing. My father has been
employed at a local Police Department in New Jersey for over 20
years. After just three years in patrol he was transferred to the
Traffic Safety Division where he spent the next ten years. After
being promoted to sergeant, he was assigned to lead and supervise the
Traffic Safety Division where he spent most of his career.

When
I became a teenager my father had me disconnect from my phone during
car rides. I HATED this at the time but now I see why he did it. Dad
was educating me about how to safely navigate the crazy roads in New
Jersey. He frequently taught about the rules of the road, how to
drive defensively and with due caution, how to leave a safe traveling
distance, how to anticipate people’s actions before they happened
and much much more. Early on I just humored him and pretended that I
cared but as I neared driving age I started paying attention to his
teachings more and more.

One
day while on the Garden State Parkway in heavy traffic dad said,
“This girl behind us is on the phone and not paying attention.”
Dad always taught that using your mirrors and knowing what is always
around your car is paramount. A few minutes later we heard a BANG
and were jostled in our seats. I didn’t know what had happened. I
remember dad asking my sister and I if we were ok and he got out of
the car to speak with the girl. I was so scared. Like always, dad
didn’t yell and kept his composure during the incident. Dad used
this as a learning experience and still talks about it to this day.
He always said that in his decade of investigating crashes, the most
common reason for crashes was people following too closely. I will
never forget that.

After
learning so many driving lessons from my dad I can honestly say I am
the safest 17 year old driver on the road. I talk with my friends
and anyone who will listen about these lessons on a regular basis;
especially not being distracted like using a handheld device while
driving. Everyone obviously doesn’t have a rockstar dad like mine
so federal and state education campaigns (distracted driving, DWI,
seatbelts, Move Over Law) need to continue to remind everyone of the
dangers of their actions.

Luke
Watson said, “Life is better when you think about how your actions
will affect others instead of how your actions will affect you.
Designing campaigns to remind people of this is paramount. I love my
dad and thank him for the lessons he taught me.