by Toni Anne

Created on: March 16, 2009

Reaching the legal driving age is every teenager's aspiring ambition. Already striving for independence, both males and females alike mark their calendars for the day they can take the driving exam. Of course, they will have achieved the required prerequisite by passing both the classroom and behind the wheel courses. It is with esteemed pride and jubilance that they enter the department of motor vehicles, ready to take on the world. Parents, on the other hand, are cringing at the thought of letting loose this explosion of energy on the vast community of other drivers.

I started driving in high school, like everyone else, I suppose. I took the classroom course in 10th grade and the road course in 11th grade. Unlike everyone else, however, I wasn't that excited about it. Why should I be driving when I had no car and no where to go? It wasn't until after I graduated and moved in with my father down in Florida that I was extended the invitation to get my license. I was 17 years old.

My father took me to the department of motor vehicles. I had to take the written exam first, then the road test, which was more difficult than I expected because there was someone sitting with me the entire time. It made me nervous. I kept wondering if I was making any mistakes and if so, how many. I didn't know the results, of course, until we were back at the station and sure enough I passed with flying colors. Coming out of the building, holding my license in my hand, I felt like a whole new person. This was it, the road to adulthood.

What I didn't understand back then was that driving is a privilege and should never be taken for granted. It's more than just getting behind a circular wheel and letting the engine take you wherever you want to go. There are important rules, road regulations, weather conditions, and circumstances that every driver should become familiar with and learn extensively long before getting a plastic card that says it is okay to drive. Personally, I think the classroom portion of the driver's course should start long before 15 years old.

I want to make this statement very clear. Driving is a privilege. Due to my own knowledge and experience, with drivers who should have never been on the road, I learned this concept the hard way. First, in 1988, my husband was killed by a hit and run driver at 3 o'clock in the morning. Could this person have been drunk? I had not doubts about it. For someone to hit an object of any nature, going 80 miles an hour, slow down, and

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>