Drivers Beware!

I know I was in drivers ed at one time ... And even after years of practice I admit I am not one of the better drivers on the road. BUT, i swear I was never as bad as the student in front of me this morning. She was swerving all over the road, crossing over the median and getting dangerously near the curb, breaking in the middle of the road, pausing for (what felt like) 10 seconds after a light turned green and narrowly avoided some barriers in a construction zone. By the time I got away from her she had backed up the whole street. I just pray it was her very first day behind the wheel, because if this girl is anywhere past that stage the whole city of Chicago needs to clear the streets the day she gets her license (if that ever happens).

There were two other students in the car, in addition to an instructor. As I watched her weave back and forth I wondered what was going on in the passengers minds. Did they fear for their lives? Were they saying their last prayers? I remember my drivers ed class, and a particular driver I had in my car. This girl (whose name I will not mention, in hopes she has improved her skills or made the wise choice to refrain from getting behind the wheel) was similar to the girl I saw today. She would swerve and randomly break ... all the while nervously giggling. I remember the fear in the instructors eyes and how he rode with his foot on the break and both hands on the wheel (instructors had their own wheel and set of brakes on the passenger side). At 15 years of age, when little can instill fear, I remember the panic in my own chest each time it was her turn to drive. She was a straight A student, and couldnt even grasp the classroom concepts. One day the instructor asked her in class, "What do you do when you are merging into traffic?" and she replied "Um...stop?". She got a "C" in behind the wheel and a "B" in the classroom, averaging to a "B", and I remember her crying because it was going to ruin her GPA. She also got a recommendation from the instructor to drive with her parents for at least 6 months before getting her license. I remember her saying that her parents wouldnt take her out driving ... and that fall I saw her drive up to school, by herself. Anyway, I digress. Moving out of High School and back onto today... there is another point I want to make. When I was learning to drive, and we were all horrible 16-year-old-drivers threatening the safety of everyone else on the road ... that was before cell phones. Now you add a 16-year-old who cant get the car to go straight together with the fact that he or she feels the need to text and drive and what do you get? The reason that we should all be taking public transportation :)