This summer I celebrated my 55th birthday.
That’s right the 5-5 —the posted speed limit on most county highways.
It is also the minimum age for participating in the eight-hour defensive driving class through the Minnesota Safety Council and Luverne Community Education.
Any driver 55 and older can take the initial class that allows certificate holders to receive an auto insurance discount.
I signed up for the very first eight-hour class after my birthday.
For good measure, I signed up my husband, too.
We weren’t the only couples there and my husband wasn’t the only one who waited years after age 55 to take the initial course.
With the driving “coach” not a teacher, we worked through a 30-page response book, watched videos and discussed various driving scenarios.
Being back in the classroom brought images of a 15-year-old me learning the rules of the road for the first time.
I admit back then I didn’t have much experience behind the wheel, and I completed my driver’s test using a car with a stick shift.
I am happy to report that nothing’s changed in the way of traffic rules from those initial lessons 40 years ago. But I certainly have changed.
Age will do that to you.
I’d say I am a much more timid driver. I normally drive the speed limit, don't race off from a stop and don’t drive much in adverse weather conditions anymore.
A few years ago I used to scoff at flash flood warnings, thinking that the warning was unnecessary in our area of the country.
That was the thought until I watched through the rearview mirror a wall of water seemingly appear out of nowhere and flow over the road behind me while I was traveling home from Pipestone.
Similarly, driving out in a blizzard is not something my older self will do, no matter how necessary the trip may me.
Getting into or causing an accident is something I prefer to avoid.
Each time I drive past areas where I know someone died in a weather-related accident, I can’t help but think the following day the roads and skies were clear and driving conditions better.
As I learned more than four decades ago, driving a vehicle is a privilege — one that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
After all, I would like to still be driving when I reach the posted speed limit on South Dakota interstates.