i am your permit to drive an automobile your license to use the highway system of the united states i am only a card in your wallet or purse yet i unroll before your eyes a magic ca the millions of miles of highways and byways that crisscross the nation i am your round trip travel take your passport to pleasure with may you can motor from the atlantic to the pacific from the gulf to the great lakes you can travel with me as your only identification i am the only commuters ticket you need to drive to and from school or work day after day year after year i have become vital to more than fifty million people in this land of ours i am their constant companion i go with them wherever they go the farmer on his way up son of the bus driver the truck driver the ambulance driver the policeman the cab driver no matter who they are no matter where they are i am with them with me in their possession the drivers of our millions of rubber tired vehicles help keep turning  our national economy whether they roll over highway or city streets for in the past twenty five years driving has opened the gates of commerce between city and farm factories and consume with me in their possession the daily life of millions has taken on new meaning the family the individual has a freedom of movement so new it did not exist in the us even of our own parents or the automobile has brought with it in less than a lifetime a new way of life a new a standard of living a standard of living matched by no other nations in the world because of the automobile new industries have taken their place on our national landscape to add billions to our wealth by providing goods services and job opportunities on dreamed of only yesterday our whole way of living has become geared to the automobile i am your permit your life your permission to drive i am a privilege and an obligation your obligation to drive skill ly carefully and legal this year there will again be thousands of innocent victims of those who will not recognize that obligates i will be among the last papers of tens of thousands will have no further use for me i may be merely a dedication of almost a million dollars injuries may be permanent a million accident victims whose numbers contain twice as many fifteen to twenty four year old drivers as any other over and over i ask myself why is it the supposed thoughtlessness of youth that takes such a toll or is it inexperience that leads to the taking of foolish chances is that the failure of adults to teach their young people the right way to drive or is it my fault have i allowed myself to become taken for granted i try to tell people when they write their names across my face that they are signing more than a signature that they are signing a pledge a pledge to be the kind of driver they want others to be i try to tell people that as a nation of more than fifty million drivers we owe it to each other the courtesy the fair play each of us expects as a nation we set great store by sportsmanship almost all of us that sometimes play the game and no matter what the game may be it has its rules rules of courtesy and fairness and sportsmanship rules that determine the pattern of action of all who play each game has its code of rules and each set of rules is known and respected by all who play and all who what we have come to demand fair play and sportsmanship all things great and small it has become second nature for example for those who play golf to allow others to play through permit to drive not your right to drive or you want to entitle to drive only as long as you abide by the rules of driv the rules of driving are fundamentally simple based on common sense common sense safety for yourself and for others when you're walking for instance say by yourself or even with a few other people on a country road there's room to spare you walking is no problem but this milling throng in the heart of a great city can represent the traffic problem of today when you look down on it there's not much difference between a jam of people automobiles but when you look closely at the people when you get down among them you'll find there's a vast difference as members of a group of civilized human beings each going about his own individual business there is a smooth surge of motion a unity of action and there's respect for the rights of others a polite avoidance of contact whole hearted cooperation  so it candy with the milling throng of automobiles across our land so it can be with you staying off the white line waiting for the green light stopping at the stop sign slowing down in school zones observing the traffic signs and think thinking while you drive about your driving keeping your mind on your driving and your eye on the road the thinking driver the older driver takes no chances with the lives of himself and others they all are driver can avoid accidents he can slow down for instance in time to protect himself and others in time to avoid the aggravation of minor them damage that costs money and denies the use of the car you pay the cost of the driving mistakes of others and they of yours in more stringent traffic regulation in higher insurance rates perhaps the poor driver never learn the proper way to drive you'll have more opportunity than he you have the opportunity to learn the right way to drive the opportunity to avoid the mistakes and habits acquired by others as a good driver you will live to enjoy all the fruits of good driv your permit to drive and the open sesame to a lifetime of new experience and a lifetime of new beauty i bring wings to your feet of freedom of motion you will learn always to charity i bring pleasure