Control

Control

Being in control is as scary as it is empowering. The road tends to
have that parallel effect on individuals. Being behind the wheel
gives you freedom, but this freedom is perfectly balanced out by the
responsibility that being in the driver’s seat entails: The
responsibility for your person, for your vehicle, for pedestrians,
and for your fellow drivers. Since we are all equally accountable for
our own lives as well as the lives of others at all times, a basic
drivers ed must be held at high importance. After all, if
you wouldn’t allow your surgeon to be on their phone during your
operation, you may not want the person driving the car you’re in to
do the same; Lives are at stake in both scenarios. The most talked
about danger to drivers and pedestrians is multitasking while
driving— rightfully so.

Knowing the dangers associated with the risk being taken ultimately
minimizes the chance of taking the risk. Proactively speaking, driver
education should start earlier than preparing for a driving permit.
Educating young children may prevent them from picking up bad habits
from their elders and encourages them to insist, “I can check that
text for you” or “Let me pull up the directions and read them”.
You can teach an old dog new tricks if money is at stake. Though
states have begun to instate extensive road safety regulations, the
practice of fining those who text and should expand beyond the
jurisdiction of large cities. Any adult who has been texting and
driving their whole life would stop in a heartbeat if their
punishment targets their pockets. That being said, these regulations
would need to be strictly enforced in order for them to be effective.
An untimely driving related death is more devastating than a “we’re
out of paper towels” text.

I’m still apprehensive behind the wheel. One summer my grandparents
took me and my cousin to Italy. We were on our way home, passing
through Hungary. I had fallen asleep on my grandmother’s shoulder
in the backseat. An eighteen-wheeler cut us off, causing us to rear
end the truck. My cousin was rushed to the hospital, but the rest of
us were fine. The local news reported on the scene and some civilians
took me in while my grandparents presided over my cousin. Being there
that day always makes me consider what I’m doing today—it
could have been worse. I prefer to be the passenger for many reasons,
but I know that as the passenger I have comparable responsibility to
the driver. I am the navigator and I keep a lookout for deer in our
woodsy neighborhoods. I check and send the texts as well as take full
responsibility for managing the aux cord. Every life is equal, so we
must treat is as such. I demonstrate my life’s equality to yours by
being as moral as I can be on the road, and I expect to see the same
from everyone my Honda passes.