How to ensure a safe driving culture

I am a student at Utah State University, and I’ve lived in Utah most of my life. In recent years I’ve spent a lot of time on the road. I’ve gone on many fun road trips, driven around several areas as a salesman, and even worked as a delivery driver. And what I’m experiencing, and seeing or hearing from others about car accidents is quite frightening.

I remember when I took drivers ed, there was a huge focus on safety. No matter what topic we were on, it always came back to safety and awareness. I think drivers ed does a good job explaining what it means to be a safe driver, but clearly that’s not enough when you look at the statistics of accidents caused by, or involving young people. I think they could do better at executing this practice. I would argue it’s a little too easy to get a drivers license in America. I think a lot of people need more practice and more knowledge on the local laws where they drive because there seems to be a lot of confusion beyond the basic laws and street signs that are taught. There are so many laws, signs, and other things drivers should know about that aren’t being taught in drivers ed. I believe that a more thorough course would be beneficial to the students by making them more prepared to get behind the wheel.

As I mentioned earlier, and the graph on your website shows, the amount of deaths on the road is incredibly high. It dropped in recent years, but we’re climbing back up again. It’s now ranking with a similar death rate to the Vietnam War. The fact that I have just as good a chance surviving in my neighborhood as I do in a war is concerning, and I hope I’m not the only one who feels this way. I think there are several causes to this but one that I think we could control quite easily is the awareness of the individual drivers. I mentioned in the last paragraph that I don’t think our process is thorough enough, and I think making sure each driver is capable of the task is incredibly important. Just like an employer makes sure each employee is up to the task, and turns down anyone that isn’t to ensure the well being of his or her company, we should be more thorough in doing the same thing to ensure safety on the roads. I don’t wish to discriminate or demean anyone, but I certainly think this could decrease the amount of deaths on the road. Now once a driver gets their license, it is then up to them to stay accountable for themselves and others safety as they drive.

I personally don’t have a ton of experience in driving accidents other than when I was very young and I don’t even remember it, but my Mom still remembers the fear with me, her oldest and only son back then. I have since had several close calls with ignorant drivers around me. I was trying to leave my high school by turning left, when a girl coming from across the street was turning to go the same way as me. She didn’t see me right in front of her as she was on her phone, but luckily I was able to move out of the way before she ran straight into me. Another time just a few weeks ago, I was going to turn right at an intersection, when I saw a car right in my way. Someone thought this lane on my side was the turning lane, and had I not been paying attention, I would have run straight into them. I’m sure these were both honest mistakes, and nine times out of ten those drivers will make the responsible choice, but with lives on the line, there can be little or no room for error.

I know I was a little harsh on those drivers in the last paragraph, and I’ve made my mistakes on the road like cutting others off, or not noticing a sign, but these are things I have overcome. As time has gone on, I’ve learned more laws and gotten better at various maneuvers. I hope to set an example for anyone I share the road with, my friends and family, and anyone else I might encounter. And again, I’d tie it back to our education system. I think that this change could help me, and many others stay more safe and more aware of their own conditions, and of others around them which would greatly reduce the amount of automobile accidents and deaths. And just as a species evolves together, we as a society, can also evolve and overall make our world a much safer place to be.