Many people stereotype high school students to be bad drivers, but in fact, there are many experienced drivers at Yutan who have knowledge to share. One of these experienced drivers is senior Cecilia Mayne-Hernandez, who has been driving for four years.
“I learned to drive from just watching my mom drive growing up and when it was actually time for me to get in the driver seat and start driving,” Mayne-Hernandez said. “Then I also had some [driving] app that helped me pass my [driving] tests.”
Like Mayne-Hernandez, senior Jason Neukirch also learned to drive at a young age from a parent.
“My dad taught me [to drive] when I was seven because we were picking up tree limbs on our property, and we needed somebody to drive the truck to put all of our tree limbs in,” Neukirch said.
Driving from an early age has allowed these students to form good driving skills.
“I’ve learned to pay attention to multiple things at once when you’re driving,” Neukirch said. “[There’s] a lot of things to look out for.”
Looking out for other cars and their surroundings is what many people associate with the term “defensive driving.” In many cases, practicing defensive driving can prevent accidents from happening. This was true for library para Maleah Johnson when another car wasn’t paying attention while trying to turn around and almost caused an accident.
“Just two weeks ago I was driving on [Highway] 92 coming home from Omaha, and a vehicle in front of me decided to pull over to the shoulder and then make a U-turn, and I almost ran right into them,” Johnson said. “Had I not slammed on my brakes, I would have hit them.”
Johnson finds herself having to pay more attention to these types of situations today than she did in the past.
“There’s more distracted driving than there was when I was growing up,” Johnson said. “We didn’t have cell phones and stuff like that, and so that really wasn’t an issue.”
This increased distraction is something that FCS teacher Chris Feller has noticed as well.
“I think probably just forgetting their rearview mirror, and then in this day and age texting and driving, we are trying to use our cell phone,” Feller said. “So I think those…take away from your ability to see what’s going on around you.”
While many newer drivers are more prone to making mistakes, these experienced drivers are hoping to help them be safer on the roads by reflecting on their past driving.
“I would tell my younger self that it is nice to be able to drive, but it’s also a privilege and it’s a responsibility to keep yourself safe and to keep other people on the road safe and the passengers in your car safe,” English teacher Ginger Eikmeier said.
Another way to be a safer driver is to also be a confident one.
“If you are a confident driver, you won’t hesitate, which can help you make quick decisions and can prevent you from being in an accident,” Neukirch said.
Besides being confident, staying conscious of the surroundings also helps avoid possible accidents.
“Just be aware of everything that’s around you and make the road your focus and not your passengers,” Feller said.
Even though a lot of these tips can be learned through experience, all the drivers stress that they still need to stay aware because other drivers may not be as experienced.
“You can’t trust other people to pay attention to you,” Mayne-Hernandez said. “You got to keep an eye out for literally everyone on the road.”
Because there’s so much to look out for, these experienced drivers want to remind others that becoming a good driver is a continual process.
“I know that no drivers are perfect,” Eikmeier said. “That’s the mindset I think you have to take when you’re driving—that none of us are perfect, so we all have to be as alert as we can to that and have a little more patience on the road and really be watchful of things that could happen because anybody could slip up at any time.”
