Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” was blasting during my first near death experience at the hands of a car. My boyfriend was driving down the 405 freeway, it was relatively empty around 5pm on a July afternoon. I was sitting in the passenger seat, singing off key to the christmas song when my life flashed before my eyes. My boyfriend was laughing and suddenly swerved; I can still feel the lurch in my stomach, I can hear the sound of something hitting the front windshield, I can feel my body tilting toward the right side door, I can hear my voice yelling expletives and I can still hear the squeaking of the brakes as he shifted to a nearby lane, nearly avoiding an accident. Completely shellshocked, he pulled off the freeway and parked in a random lot. We sat in silence for what seemed like forever: we knew the severity of what we just experienced. I kept running through the what ifs: We were in the leftmost lane, if there was a car behind us, the likelihood of us surviving that collision would be low. I finally asked him what happened to make him swerve so recklessly, and he explained the leftmost lane we were in wasn’t an actual lane, it was unmarked road construction. The sound of debris hitting our windshield was a traffic cone. A single traffic cone, enough to end the lives of two teenagers. That was our rationale. In retrospect, it wasn’t that cone. It was the distracted driving that we both contributed to. The lack of concentration on the road led to an extremely avoidable event; we both didn’t notice we weren’t in a lane until too late. An accident would’ve caused fatalistic consequences, and that was the day we both swore to better protect ourselves and the drivers around us. Going home that night, I told all my friends and family I loved them and was thankful for them. 

Although it's only a mode of transportation, I never realized how much power being behind the wheel is until it’s someone’s life at stake. In Drivers Ed and safety classes, we’re only taught that impaired driving is someone under the influence, anyone who could be convicted of a DUI would be considered impaired. However, simple things such as music or texting or even checking your reflection in the mirror could impact your life and the lives around you. People don’t take it seriously because it’s been preached all our lives, just adults talking down to us and ridding us of the freedom that comes with driving. But it's not that simple. In programs like DARE, we’re just young kids that are eager to drive so we can hangout with our friends or be able to go wherever we want. It’s like dangling candy in front of a kid’s face, except with greater consequences than just a sugar crash. We’re always accepting terms and conditions after barely skimming them, and that’s how a lot of safety protocols feel like. It’s always seen as a tedious and unnecessary obstacle we have to go through to grant us the freedom we crave. Police officers come to schools and tell us don’t do this and don’t do that, feeling more authoritarian than authoritative. Younger people, especially teenagers, are susceptible to group polarization and they don’t want to be restricted by rules. The way impaired driving and road safety precautions are presented to student drivers make them seem like they limit the ability to have fun rather than serve as a legitimate safeguard. 

Consequences for impaired driving differ depending on the type of impairment, which also influences how common each is. Teenagers believe rules don’t apply to them, meaning drinking and driving are especially common to those who believe they’ll be able to fall under the police’s radar. However, although drinking and driving are an extremely fatal mix, they’re not as common as everyday occurrences on the road, such as texting and driving, being distracted by loud music, or even reaching in the backseat to grab something. Anything that takes your focus from the road can cause an accident because the power driving a vehicle has is significant. One wrong move and your life and others will be at stake, which isn’t a fact emphasized enough by Driver’s Ed. A step taken to make teens and new drivers more aware of the power they hold behind the wheel could be bringing speakers that they can relate to. Bring people that aren’t intimidating authority figures, but real people with real driving experience. People can be talked to about how scary accidents are, but the reality is they won’t know how scary they are until they’re in one. Simulating an accident or telling personal stories about harmful accidents can help people take driving more seriously. Additionally, giving practical advice about driving rather than trying to scare students out of reckless driving would be more beneficial in preventing accidents. If someone warned me or my boyfriend not to swerve when encountering an obstacle on the road could’ve saved us from the ordeal and trauma we faced.

Knowing what I do now, I always stay completely focused on the road and try to limit distractions. The person behind the wheel isn’t the only person who has influence in driving safety: it’s also the passengers that can remind them to stay focused or try to limit being a distraction. Although I’m only one driver, by doing my part in keeping the streets safe I can know that there’s one less person being reckless. If everyone adopts this mentality, that means that everyone will respect the rules of the road and create a safer environment for everyone involved: drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.