Road to Saftey

The invention of the automobile brought the greatest change to transportation in over a century. Cars quickly grew to a fundamental part of everyday life. They take us from place to place whenever we want, down to the exact street. No waiting at stations or walking a mile before hopping on a crowded train. They’re how we get to work, to school, to each other. Life could never be the same without them. But with all these great benefits comes equally great risks. Cars are one of the most dangerous inventions to ever be created, and probably the most dangerous invention owned by the majority of people. With little to no effort, one has access to a two ton projectile capable of traveling over a hundred miles an hour, enough speed to rip through brick walls and speed straight through solid steel. And with improvements in technology, cars have gotten bigger, heavier, and much faster. Inventions and changes have been made to make cars safer, but the reality of the situation is that drivers need to be ready and able to make safe choices.

A car is an extension of the driver. Turn left and it moves left, turn right and it moves right. A car will speed up, slow down, reverse, and stop at the will of the driver. However, when drivers are unprepared to handle such a dangerous thing, harm creeps its way in. Drivers have to be ready to control and safely manage cars, for the sake of themselves and those around them. This means proper and thorough education, with well explained values and reasons for why things are how they are. By knowing how cars operate and how the ways of the road work, risk for accidents drops tremendously. In this vein, many believe that they can learn on their own, using the information from life experiences and the drivers that surround them to learn how to drive. However, going solely off of personal experience is a dangerous idea. Without a unified way of thinking, which is provided in a good driver’s education, drivers become reckless and lack communication. Cars can’t talk to one another, and it is the job of the driver to know the cues of the road and navigate accordingly. If everyone uses their own methodology, the road would become anarchy. That’s why we need good driver education. It maintains a continuity and allows for people to understand each other while navigating such dangerous machinery, reducing risks of injury, damage and death.

But knowing is only half the battle. If risk of accidents is to be reduced, drivers have to start taking steps to turn realization into reality. The most important step in reducing deaths due to driving is to have drivers stick to what they know. There are many uncertainties in driving, and many drivers make bad choices in regard to seeing others act in similar ways. Rolling stops in stop signs are a big issue, and many people imitate those around them and start making more and more unsafe stops. But if drivers are to just stick to what they know, that stop signs mean to come to a complete stop, then the cycle breaks. It helps keep a standard and sets an example for others drivers, helping kill off bad habits among a population. And this concept applies to other issues, unsafe lane changes, dangerous turns, and speeding to name a few. By driving with what one knows is right, one will also perpetuate good habits.

There’s still more to be done to help create safer roads, even if drivers are driving responsibly. On top of knowing the ways of driving and road communication, drivers also need to know how to use their vehicle. This is an increasingly growing issue, especially as technology progresses and everyday life becomes more and more hands off. I’ve experienced this problem first hand, being a passenger of my friends. I’ve bared witness to teens who learned in newer model cars, learning to rely on automated mirrors, side sensors, and rearview cameras. One specific time, I watched a friend struggle to reverse without his rear view camera and watched as he almost hit another car. Technology is a good thing, especially when it eliminates a persistent problem, but over reliance on it is a problem in itself. To be safe drivers, people need to understand the cars. Especially with the new developments in self driving cars, people need to be ready to take over if problems arise mid-ride. They have to be able to reverse without a camera, adjust their mirrors without a button, turn off the emergency brake without the car doing it for them. They also need to know how to fix their car. Whether it’s literally them fixing their own car or getting it to someone who can is not important, all that matters is that they can know it needs fixing and get it fixed. This helps prevent issues from happening on the road, which can lead to malfunction and accidents. All this knowledge has to be known, because if you don’t know how to use the car without it telling you, can you really drive. The road needs safe drivers, not passengers with control panels.

In the end, what matters is drivers start working towards safety. It’s not an overnight fix, but by setting a good example and being responsible on a personal level, a positive trend will be sure to start. It’s going to be a long journey towards road safety, but every journey starts with the first step.