To Drive Safe, To Save Life

I have never tried to get a driving license in my life. I planned to take that in Japan when I was a freshman at my Japanese university, but I did not have enough time at that time. Then, I came to the U.S. as an international transfer student from Fall 2023. I want to take the license in the U.S. However, I am scared to drive in the U.S. too much. I am not a legal U.S. resident, and I know that the U.S. medical expenses are so expensive for me. In addition, I am afraid of our driver’s license test. In Japan, we usually go to the driving school to take classes for 3 months. After all classes, we will take written and driving skill tests. If we pass those tests, we can get the license. However, in Utah, the U.S. where I am living, they need to take just written and driving skill tests. They are not taught how to drive by such teachers. I was so surprised about that when I heard about this program. Also, this made me more terrified about getting a driving license in the U.S.

I looked at one number to compare the Japanese and the U.S. car accident situation. This number tells us the number of traffic fatalities per 100,000 people in 2021. The number in the U.S. was 12.9, and Japanese was 2.6. In addition, I looked at one more number which tells us how many people had cars in Japan and the U.S. in 2020. In the U.S., there were 289,037,000 cars. In Japan, there were 78,462,000 cars. Even if the U.S. had cars four times more than Japan, there were car accidents with fatalities six times more than Japan. Of course, Japanese driver education is not perfect, but it might be better the U.S. driver education. I will write about that next.

First, as I mentioned before, we need to go to the driving school to get a driving license in Japan. In detail, we need to involve over 20 hours of supervised driving. Incorporating that curriculum in the U.S. will be helpful in reducing the number of deaths related to driving. There is an apparent difference in driving between Japan and the U.S. It is the age limit to drive. There are also differences between the U.S. states, but almost all states have a minimum age of 16 to get a driver’s license. On the other hand, in Japan, the minimum age is 18 for taking a standard-sized vehicle driving license. I will introduce why teenagers can be considered dangerous drivers. The first reason is brain Development. The prefrontal cortex, which governs judgment, impulse control, and decision-making, continues to develop through the teenage years. This area of the brain helps with assessing risks and responding to complex situations, skills essential for safe driving. The next one is emotional reasons. It is said that high school students are prone to impulsive emotions and behavior and are easily influenced by their fellow passengers. If they are riding with friends, they are more likely to speed up or drive dangerously in order to attract attention. It has also been pointed out that they tend to prioritize responding to the gazes and expectations of others, leading to a lower awareness of safe driving. One more important reason is the higher risk of distraction. Teenagers are statistically more prone to distractions, particularly from smartphones and social media. Studies show that texting or interacting with mobile devices while driving significantly increases the chance of accidents, as it divides attention between the road and the device. I have one friend who got in a car accident with a girl high school student. That student was using her phone while driving, then she caused an accident. According to those reasons, teenagers are not allowed to drive in Japan.

I often see drivers using their phones while driving even if they are not teenagers. When I take taxis such as Uber or Lyft, I have seen a driver using his or her phone. That made me so scared to take those car services. As I wrote in the previous section, using the phone while driving often causes accidents. Therefore, it would be one of good idea to strengthen penalties for violations in the U.S. in order to discourage phone use while driving.

I wrote that teenagers may be dangerous drivers, but it can be said for elderly people such as those over 65. I found one graph that tells us the Motor vehicle traffic death rates by age group. By about 2016, young adults who are 15-24 caused the accident the most. However, after 2016, older people who are 65 and over cause the accident the highest rates. In Japan, it is recommended to return their license to elderly people. In addition, once people turn 70, they will need to take the elderly driver’s course when renewing their license. Obviously, the U.S. is a car-oriented society much more than Japan. That situation may cause elderly people to need to drive in their life. For these reasons, the U.S. government can consider making public transportation better or to take in courses such as Japanese for older drivers.