Personal Narrative: Should Drivers Be A Defensive Drive?

I've always heard that drivers should practice "defensive driving." It makes sense, we all know how big a car is and how fast it can go, you can find all of those numbers somewhere on the car itself. We all know someone who has been in an accident, be it minor or major. When cars collide, it can be catastrophic and everyone knows it well. But somehow, at least for me, the idea of it actually all being real didn't happen until I had gotten into an accident where I was forced to deal with the consequences of even a minor collision. Standing in the sun that late afternoon with a bunch of my friends and the whole street staring at me and my dented car while the other driver yelled at me taught me a valuable lesson about just how real the ramifications of not being a defensive …show more content…
The thought of getting behind the wheel seemed like far too much responsibility. While waiting for my mom to drive me anywhere was a somewhat aggravating loss of freedom, I felt I needed more time before I went back to piloting heavy machinery. I felt obligated to act almost as I had when I was first getting my license- I even spent awhile only driving with one of my parents in the passenger seat. At first, I was screaming internally from the moment I put the key in the ignition to the moment I parked it at my destination. Changing lanes made me very anxious, I saw all cars as threats (actually I still do), and unprotected left hand turns came close to actually frightening me. Soon enough though, I felt like I was able to drive alone. I had mastered the art of "defensive driving"- it's a shame it took me getting into a minor accident to actually understand it, but I'm glad it was a lesson I actually learned instead of just having it go in through one ear and out the other as it had the first time. I'm now quite confident in my driving abilities, and if I'm not, I take the long way around. Better safe than sorry when it comes to