A Multifaceted Approach to Preventing Driver-Related Deaths

In August 2020, as the world was emerging from pandemic lockdowns, a tragic accident highlighted the critical need for enhanced driving safety measures. While waiting on the side of an Atlanta highway for our broken-down Jeep to be repaired, I witnessed a catastrophic chain-reaction collision.

Tragedy struck just two lanes over from us. The traffic had been a little bit stop and go, as Atlanta traffic tends to be. One driver, being curious, was paying too much attention to what we were doing and not keeping an eye on traffic ahead of him. He ended up rear ending the car in front of him, causing a chain reaction.

The next car then rear ended him, while still traveling at about 50 MPH, and then got rear ended by a much larger truck. This caused the second car to be crushed in between the first car and the truck. I stared in horror as a family started to make their way out of the crumpled car, consisting of a mother, small boy, and a teenage girl. The mother and boy were okay, but the teenage girl was lying on the ground and screaming in agony.

The police and paramedics arrived within minutes and were able to block off traffic. I made my way over there to comfort the mother and give my account to the police. While I had been in a small accident as an 11-year-old girl myself, nothing compared to what I had just seen, and the experience left me shaking.

This incident underscored the urgent need for comprehensive strategies to prevent driving-related deaths, including improved driver education, smarter urban planning, and personal vigilance.

Driver’s education plays a crucial role in helping people realize what can happen when you take your eyes off the road. I remember seeing several examples and stories in my own driver’s education class that really stuck in my mind and helped form me into the defensive driver I am today.

We can further improve driver education by incorporating more modern technology into the classroom setting. Virtual Reality is one facet of this technology that could be especially useful in training inexperienced drivers. This would provide them with a risk-free setting to put their driving skills to the test. It could also purposefully incorporate situations where they would need to drive defensively to avoid getting into a wreck.

Having better education around driving is a great start, but there are also things that we need to hold our local or state government responsible for. Another preventative action would be to rethink the way our cities are structured. We should look at the example European cities have set, as many of their cities are focused on walkability and traffic safety. The US has a much higher rate of traffic fatalities compared to the European Union.

Creating more walkable communities would encourage people to walk more and drive less. This involves adding more sidewalks and bike lanes and increasing modes of transportation that do not involve cars. To make people feel safe walking around cities, we need to slow down traffic by implementing speed bumps, raised crosswalks, and narrower streets. Another way to make walking more pleasant is by adding trees around cities and sidewalks to provide more natural shade.

Finally, updating zoning laws in many cities is necessary to allow for mixed-use developments that combine residential, commercial, and recreational spaces. This provides proximity to amenities that people might typically drive to, such as grocery stores, schools, and parks.

While I am typically a safe and alert driver, there is always room for improvement. I will pay extra heed to not look at my phone while driving, even if I am on a road with no other cars around. There are always too many variables, and you never know if an animal will run out in front of you or if a car will pull out in front of you unexpectedly. I will also make sure I give other cars plenty of space and try to think one step ahead of any action another driver might take.

I do have some friends that still use their phones constantly when driving, despite updated laws prohibiting this. To help my friends become safer on the road, I will encourage them to set their phones down when I am in the car with them. I will also not reach out to them via phone when I know they may be driving.

Finally, if the opportunity arises, I will advocate wherever I can to make cities more walkable and roads safer to travel on. This could include attending city council meetings, joining local safety initiatives, or collaborating with organizations focused on road safety.

Preventing driving-related deaths requires a multifaceted approach, including improved driver education, urban planning reforms, and personal responsibility. Getting somewhere as fast as possible is not worth anyone’s life.