Today, we live in a world where automobiles are more necessity than privilege. Driving is not exceptional, but the norm, which has caused many to forget just how much power a car holds. Teenagers go through drivers ed with sole intention of gaining the freedom driving provides. But just like with any great power, comes an even greater responsibility. 

     When I turned 15, the very first thing I wanted to do was get my driving permit. I spent hours studying, reading the handbook, and going through online courses just so I could pass it first try and get straight to actual driving. 6 months later, I was behind the wheel for the first time, excited to drive after what felt like years of waiting. However, I soon learned that driving, though fun, is something to be viewed with extreme caution. You can be the best, most careful driver out there, yet you are still endangered by the presence of other more reckless drivers. Every time you sit behind that wheel, you must drive like your life depends on it because it truly does. 

     Since I was a kid, I’ve been well aware of the danger car accidents pose. I’d seen car pileups on the 405 and heard my uncle regale tales from his time as a CHP officer of men trapped under semis. But it’s one thing to know that, and a whole other thing to experience it for yourself. It wasn’t until I was 7 that I was in a crash myself. We were driving home after a day baking in the Palm Springs’ heat, my dad at the wheel with my mother beside him, while my brother and I dozed in the back. I was gazing out the window when it happened all at once. The impact of our 5,000+ pound GMC Sierra ramming into the bumper of a mid-sized sedan. The smell of gasoline and smoke. The crack of my mom’s nose as it fractured against the force of the airbag. The dripping blood on the leather seats. My dad had fallen asleep at the wheel. My young brain couldn’t understand anything besides the innate fear that consumed my body. I felt tears pour down my face as he tried his best to reassure us that everything would be okay. 

     Everything after that was a blurry haze of angry shouting, riding alone in an ambulance with my mom on a stretcher, and the painful cry I tried my best to block out as nurses forced her nose back into place. Looking back, I realize how lucky we were all things considered. Though many wave off fatality statistics in a country with hundreds of millions of people, the survival rate following a crash drops significantly as speed increases. At 20 mph your shot at living may be 90%, but as you near 50 miles per hour that opportunity drops to 3 in 10, and at 70 miles per hour you are most certainly headed for death. In my case, we were weaving through the achingly slow pre-pandemic traffic, and as such were protected from a much more severe incident. 

     The lesson remains: impaired driving is not always the result of drugs or alcohol. No, the majority of the time, it is caused by distractions, whether that be fatigue or your cell phone. We need to teach drivers that driving is more than just a set of rules. It goes past changing lanes and not running reds. It is the responsibility to recognize when you are not in a position to be on the road. It is understanding that when you are too tired to keep going, you have to pull over. It is ingraining into your mind that taking the wheel is not a mundane task, but rather one of the deadliest things a human can do. 

     But beyond that, drivers' education must teach defensive measures in order to protect future drivers from irresponsible driving, because it is not always you that is the danger but rather the people on the road beside you. 90% of accidents are caused by human error, and it is highly probable you will be involved in at least one automobile accident throughout your life. That is why it’s important to drive slower and stay alert. It’s a basic statistic, the slower you’re driving, and the more careful you are, the less significant the risk of injury. Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly. 

      Furthermore, do not become complacent, because that is the moment you put someone else at risk. I have laid witness to the candlelit vigils of families whose lives were decimated because of a drunk driver. Of parents whose curdling screams tear at your heart because their child is now dead. And the punishment for that can be as little as 2 years. 2 years and lifetime of guilt is not enough when someone out there will forever grieve the loss of the one person who brightened their life. At the end of the day, there is no difference between “buzzed” and “hammered” when a person’s life is on the line. 

     I am proud to admit that when I receive my license, I am comfortable being overly cautious. I am content to take my time if that means staying alive. I refuse to become a statistic. Because in the end, you hold the weight of your own life and the dozens of others that surround you in your hands. If we can instill in the generation that follows to act with just a little more accountability, a little more urgency, and a little more insight, then perhaps it won’t be so easy to lose a life.