As a young girl, I only thought of drinking and driving when asked about driving impaired. I learned through my Driver’s Education course that while alcohol continues to be one of the top causes for fatal collisions, drugs and sleep deprivation also impairs a driver’s mental acuity and reaction time. 

My Driver’s Education instructor discussed how mobile phones have become one of the greatest distractors for drivers. The split second it takes to answer your phone or to read and send a text message can prove to be just long enough to create a distraction that could results in a collision. Taking your eyes off the road to look at your mobile device proves to be unsafe and can result in a collision.

I gained a deeper understanding of impaired driving when I successfully completed a driver’s education course; however, it was not until I found myself faced with a real-life-on-the-road emergency did I realize that it takes more than sobriety to contribute to safe driving conditions. A driver must learn to be a defensive driver as well, in order to promote safe driving behaviors. An alert passenger can prove to be a defensive car passenger, which can also help the driver to avoid having an accident.

Not being under the influence of drugs and alcohol increase’s a driver’s chances of being alert; driving within the speed limit; and to have the ability to anticipate and react quickly in order to avoid road hazards or another driver who may be driving while impaired.

​My father suffered a fatal heart attack while driving along the highway with my brother and I to my grandfather’s funeral. Seeing my father have a heart attack behind the wheel of our car, and my brother jumping into action by steering us safely off the highway, changed how I viewed driving impaired. I have a greater understanding that illnesses can cause a person to become impaired while driving a vehicle. Instances other than being mentally or physically impaired as a result of being inebriated or distracted do occur. My brother being an alert, defensive passenger saved his and my life. I sat shotgun and my brother sat in the backseat of the car at the time of my father’s attack. My brother remained calm and reached out from the backseat and grabbed the steering wheel. He guided us off of the high to a safe location on the side of the road. My brother’s quick thinking; remaining aware of our surroundings; and knowing what to do helped us avoid an accident. He truly saves his and my life.  

That heartbreak of losing my father shaped my awareness of the importance of not only being a safe driver but defensive driver as well. Driver’s Education and traffic school courses taught me why I should avoid driving while impaired, and the coursework also taught the tools and techniques needed to drive safely when unexpected real-world situations happen.

I became terrified of learning how to drive after my father passed. I had resigned myself to being a non-driver, and taking an Uber or public transportation to get where I needed to go while in college and beyond. My mother encouraged me to take Driver’s Education. She wanted me to be prepared to be a safe driver, in case I changed my mind about getting my driver’s license. My mother’s advice turned out to be correct.

Taking a driver’s education course helped to give me the confidence to eventually learn how to drive and to get me driver’s license. 

Being taught the rules and regulations for how to be a safe driver laid the foundation for me to be able to take on a leadership role with my friends. I started to stress the importance of no drinking and driving; and the course definitely reinforced no underage drinking; and to absolutely never be under the influence of drugs and alcohol when I or my friends drive. When out with my friends, I insist on being the designated driver when we go to an event, and if I get sleepy, I know to pull over and call my mother who has been emphatic about the fact that I can always call always her to pick-up my friends and me, regardless of the time. 

The old saying, ‘Knowledge is power,” proves to be true when it comes to influencing my peers to make safer decisions when they drive. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to learned those lessons during Driver’s Education and Diver’s Training courses.