My first driving lesson consisted of misunderstandings and inches. Within the first few minutes of being behind the wheel, I thought I was very comfortable with the size, length, and direction my car was headed. Here’s where the misunderstanding took place; I was happy to finally be driving and experiencing an adult moment, but I was totally shut down by my mother who wouldn’t let me touch the gas pedal, reducing the speed limit to inches per hour. Although I didn’t realize it, my mother was accurate in her instruction to slowly navigate our neighborhood street that was cluttered with parked cars. As a result of my lack of experience, I could not successfully accelerate and dodge other vehicles at the same time without experiencing whiplash from the car jerking as I liked to stomp on the brake. I realized I had no idea where the corners of the car were and was not ready to drive 40mph on the busy street with moving objects. A common characteristic of teenage driving is lack of …show more content…
For example, my experience in the Driver’s Education program only required me to drive with an instructor six times. These drives were spread across a six-week time span. After receiving my license, I drove a minimum of 10 times per week: five mornings to school, and five afternoons home. A solution to gaining more experience before licensure would be to increase the duration of the driver’s education program to a year. The flaw in the driver’s education program is that the course spans for only one season. The class can be taken in the fall, winter, summer, or spring. In other words, the student in the course only receives practice during that specific season. An increase in duration would allow for practice in the different weather conditions each season
My car slows as it approaches a stoplight. I take this opportunity to allow my mind to become engulfed with my surroundings: the bright fierce red of the traffic light, the brilliant blue sky with its specs clouds, and the mass of hurried people. The four corners of the intersection are filled with people who are preoccupied with their fast-paced lives to notice the little things, such as animals and anxious cars awaiting the traffic light. My thoughts vigorously put all of the information that my mind has gathered from the intersection to order.
The day started off like any average day, I took a hot shower, got dressed and got prepared for the day. It wasn’t until I sat down and started eating my bowl full of cheerios with extra sugar, that I realized what was actually happening. Today would be the day I finally bought my first car, after a year of hard work and conservative economic decisions.
Do you remember how you came across your first vehicle? How was your experience? Having a vehicle comes with many responsibilities and expenses. I will never forget how I meet my first car.
There was always times where I just wanted to throw in the towel and call it quits. However, I just knew that my persistence would eventually kick in! Also, I had to accept the fact I would not do so well at first. When I first drove a car, my nerves throughout my body were completely shocked through the roof. It was because I did not know how to do it since I had no previous driving experience. For some people, they like to drive four-wheelers or dirt bikes before driving a car, so they have some experience, but I am not that type of person at all and never will be. So, me and my dad went down to Buckeye Career Center one afternoon for me to practice driving for the very first time in my life. At first, he would go through the course to show me where I would go. The course included turning both left and right,parking into a space, reversing, and many more things. My dad would always say the same things to me: “Turn the wheel, Coast, Brake Earlier.” These are just some of things he stressed to me. Turning the wheel was a problem I had early on because I would always do the wrong technique. I would always turn for part of the way but not all the way. The next thing he would say to me would be is just coast. To be honest, I did not know that a car could do such a thing. Coasting to me seems like taking a little break from driving. Also, I did not know how far you could go when coasting a car. A big thing I learned from my
Car crashes have been and are the number one cause of death for teens. (1) Many feel that the development of their brain is not advanced enough to handle driving. Impulse control is the last thing to develop in the teen brain and doesn’t reach maturity until their early 20’s. Irresponsibility is also a problem with teens. The CDC states that teens are more likely to drive too fast, get distracted and underestimate hazards. This is especially true of males. (1) Each year, more than 5000 teenagers die in motor vehicle accidents. The rate of motor vehicle accidents, both nonfatal and fatal for 16 year olds is almost 10 times higher then drivers 30 to 59 according to the National Highway Safety Administration.(3)
Statistics show 16- to 17-year-old driver death rates increase with each additional passenger, which is due to distracted driving. Taking your eyes off the road for 2 (two) seconds, at 60 mph, means you have driven blindly for half the length of a football field. The risk of fatality is 3.6 times higher, when they are driving with passengers than when alone. For many years, the correlation between driving behavior and age has interested highway safety researchers and administrators. It is general knowledge that the greatest risk of motor vehicle crash...
One must think quickly to figure the best solution when trying to avoid a car accident. A political scientist from the University of Hawaii named Lawrence Nitz, ”conducted a three-year study of Hawaiian traffic records and found that drivers over 75 were far more likely than other motorists to be cited for certain offenses, including failing to yield to pedestrians, backing up unsafely and failing to stop at a flashing red light.” (Source B). The source expounds the fact that senior citizens struggle with driving safely. Elderlies should be more cautious around their surroundings, particularly when it comes to driving to avoid horrendous car accidents. Although, several individuals may declare that teens drivers are disastrous at stopping at a red light and driving at a dangerous speeds. However, seniors develop bad habits over time without even realizing it. “Incorrect hand position and too much input means you lose track of where your car is headed; hands at 9 and 3 (most new cars now position their indents here) give you the best control without having to let go of the wheel” (Source I). A vast majority of elderlies lose control over their hands which is one of the bad habits elderlies seem to have nowadays. When driving, one shall have control of their vehicle to abstain crashing into another
Teens need to be taught that driving is a task that is complex and demanding. Parents know how much experience a young driver has, and they know exactly how inconvenient it is when they have to drive with their teen everywhere while they have their permit. Teens tend to cause most traffic accidents in adults’ eyes. They are not experienced yet, and often fail to pay attention to others on the road. They often think of a car as being some type of toy, but they do not know how powerful it really is. The driver education programs must be strengthened in order to make sure that students really have safer habits, behind the wheel experience, and by having a better understanding of all the laws on the road.
Today’s society appears to be constantly on the go. People seem to be pulled in multiple directions at once. Individuals never appear to have enough time to complete tasks that continually accumulate. It can be difficult to criticize someone that tries to make the most out every minute. Unfortunately, some of today’s drivers show a lack of judgment and trying to perform other tasks, while behind the wheel. People may feel this is best use time while getting to a destination. Occasionally, the small amount of time that people are trying to gain results in a time consuming accident. With modern conveniences that are geared toward an on the go public, individuals appear to be too preoccupied to driving safely.
Wilson, Kevin. “Back to School: Teenage Driving.” AutoWeek. 4 Sept. 2006: 18-20. Web. 28 Apr. 2010.
Loss of motor skills is common among people when they get older, which increases dramatically after age 65. Motor skills are functions that involve the precise movement of muscles in order to perform a certain task. In a psychology study where 24 young adults were tested against 24 senior citizens, the evidence suggested that in addition to general slowing, the elderly have troubles with motor skills because they execute movement sequences as a series of individual movements and not as a combined pattern. When people execute individual movements, it makes it harder to multi-task which is a necessity while driving on the road. Having to control brakes, gas, steering, lane changes, turning, head checks, and many other assortment of tasks while driving, takes a toll on elderly people with diminishing motor skills. Another major contributing factor to deterioration of motor skills is change in cognitive function. One basic cognitive function that is severely...
A skill that I am now aware that I learned through the Natural Human Learning Process is the skill of driving. I was motivated to start drive because, I didn’t want to ask my parents to take me anywhere, and I was also tired of being late to events. I began practicing by...
My experience with learning to drive started in middle school where kids were too young to enroll in driving classes. My parents were a busy pair and I was an athlete who was determined to do my best for my team. This of course meant I was required to train with my team to build a chemistry with them. I drove myself to
“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time,” said by Steven Wright. Teenagers look forward to their sixteenth birthday so they are able to drive. Everyone has felt that feeling where they can hardly wait to get behind the wheel and start driving. Little do people know teen drivers are more likely to die from a car accident than from a homicide, suicide, or cancer combined (Littlefield). They are mostly inexperienced with the road and how to handle distractions. If the age were moved to eighteen teenagers would have more driving experience (Sostarecz). Teenage drivers are extremely eager to drive because of freedom, but they are not aware of the distractions and peer pressure on the road; their experience of driving is not as well as others and statistics show how many deaths are caused due to teenage driving.
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.