By Susie Kang, 18, Marlborough High School

“You’re so lucky, you got your license after only two-and-a-half weeks of practice, they said. Most people I knew failed the test at least once, sometimes even three times. So, when I came home with a piece of paper that said I passed the test and was responsible to drive, my father said the government must be insane! At the time, I was ecstatic.
But later on, I didn’t think it was a blessing. If I got my license this quickly, many, many other people must have, too. How could they entrust two tons of power with me? I wasn’t really confident that I would know what to do in a difficult situation. Even though I had my license, I only wanted to drive with my mom present, in case I made some fatal mistake.
After about 10 months of driving supervised, I put my handmade sign that said “Student Driver” in a safe spot of my rear window, and I finally started driving myself to school. I was still afraid about getting into a car accident, but I started to feel better about my driving skills.
But I also realized when you’re driving, you have a two-ton weapon in your hands. If you’re not careful, your license to drive may become a license to kill. I talked to California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Randy Sheran, who said, “When you’re behind the wheel of a vehicle, even though you’re a teenager, you’re considered an adult. You have adult responsibilities. From the eyes of law enforcement, you have to adhere to the same laws, you have to drive with the same safety, precaution, and courtesy, and obey the rules of the road, just as an adult would. So, when I pull up behind a vehicle, I don’t think, as I get out of my car, ‘there’s a teenager, or there’s an adult.’ I get out of the car and think there’s somebody who violated the law and I need to talk to that person and figure out how we can stop this from happening again.”

If you get pulled over, be courteous
When I first started driving, seeing a police car behind me scared me to death. I used to think that the cops were coming to get me, for the times I was speeding or running yellow lights. Sheran acknowledged that “people tend to get nervous when they’re pulled over by law enforcement,” but added that “there really is no need to be [nervous]. We try to be as courteous as possible. We try to handle every situation in the most professional manner. Every person will be treated the same on a traffic stop.”
What should you do if you get stopped? Sheran says, “There’s going to be a reason the officer stopped you, so you need to be cooperative. You don’t need to be scared, because nothing bad will come of it, other than getting a citation or a warning. We’re just doing our job–trying to make the roadways safer, not only for the person driving, but the people walking, the people crossing the street, the other people driving next to you.”
Have you ever been running late and thought you could compensate by driving really, really fast? Getting to an appointment on time is never worth risking your life. Be safe and late rather than sorry. As Sheran advises, “Plan your trip. If it takes you 20 minutes to get to your friend’s house from your house and you need to get there, give yourself 35 minutes. If you get there early, and if you drive a little slower, you’ll still make it on time.”
Sheran said he supports the new laws that put more restrictions on teen drivers (see page 4) because they could save lives. “The first few years you have your driver’s license, you need to get in the good habit of driving safely and knowing your limits, your vehicle’s limits, and getting used to obeying the traffic laws, because once you do that, it’ll become second nature to you and you’ll be a safer driver. I think that some of the laws that are coming into effect now are trying to get teenage drivers into the habit of being safe drivers from the very beginning.””