Jorge Martinez

When it comes to teen driving it can be a whole mix of emotions. Excitement, nervous, happy, scared, but rarely do we think of cautiousness. On average about 7-8 teens in the age range of 15-20 die each day due to car crashes. Driver education plays a big role in the future drivers because they are responsible for helping driving students ease their way into a vehicle that is dangerous if not used correctly. Unfortunately not all drivers take driving seriously and endanger not only their lives but the people around them. 

Driving education is important but like everything it starts at home. How can you expect your teen to drive adequately when their whole life their parents drove without a care in the world? I remember as I was first driving, my mother always told me “it's easier to follow the rules” something so simple but so true. Speeding to get to a place 2 minutes faster is not worth the endless pain you will put your family through if you never get to your destination. A big distraction that drivers face today is their cell phone. For some reason today, we live in a society where having your cell phone is a must. When I started driving the first thing my dad did was he took my cell phone, put it on silent, and put it in the glove box, following with my mom's infamous statement “it's easier to follow the rules”. 

Another thing I see today is drivers have a lack of experience and when the time comes to drive they are not prepared. I have a friend who wanted to start learning to drive but her parents were too nervous to teach her. That is a big fail on the parents' side because, yes I'll admit, driving with a new driver can be scary (I taught my cousin to drive), but driving alone isn't going to make it any less scary. Is it not better to be a scared teen but have the support of a parent next to you then having to learn on your own? The only way to overcome lack of experience, is to experience. You cannot expect a new driver to know everything if they had to teach themselves to drive. 

The topic of safe driving is so important to me because I can relate to it on a personal level. I had a friend who was always a safe driver. She always encouraged us to drive safely because we not only have to watch our driving but other people's driving. It was always a joke when we got into a car we would say “yes Alice, we will drive safe”. One day her family and herself decided to take a surprise trip to visit their family in California. Nobody knew they were going as it was a surprise. But the surprise took an unexpected turn. About halfway to their destination a drunk driver struck their car and they lost control spinning out and eventually flipping. It was a complete fatal car crash that ended the life of 4 people. One of which was my friend Alice. The drunk driver, a 17 year old, survived. Sometimes I think of the words Alice always told us to “watch out for other people's driving”. Such an unfortunate event that could have been prevented if the driver had better role models growing up. 

One thing that I think schools can do better is really focus on the importance of safe driving. I think oftentimes it gets overlooked and brushed off. I’ve been in classes where driving schools are there for the paycheck disregarding the actual importance of safe driving. As far as statewide one thing that I think will promote safer driving is to really hold  people accountable for their driving. Oftentimes, I see people get a slap on the wrist and back to what they were doing. I think if there were real consequences that affected them they would be attent of their driving. Another thing should be free driving education for people that can’t afford it. In the long run you can be saving countless lives for the price of a free education. I remember when I was in high school, my school would host campaigns about the importance of safe driving, bringing drunk goggles simulating the effect of impaired driving. 

People don’t often realize how driving impaired really feels, until it's too late. Fixing these problems is not going to happen from one day to another. It's something that gradually has to be implemented. I think parents need to take part in new experiences such as driving and really focus on being that support for their kids. I think there should be tougher consequences for people who disregard the rules, and driver's education should be free and accessible to everyone.