Thoughts on Driving and Safety

Ever since the inception of cars, they’ve existed on the roads. So too have car accidents, leading to injuries, minor and fatal. In modern-day America everyone drives a car; it’s become a necessity. People drive cars to get from their homes to their workplaces, to go out to eat, and go long distances on vacation. The safety of roads, however, has always been in danger. Motor vehicle accidents have been the leading cause of death for decades, and there seems to be no easy solution in sight. How can the public prevent these accidents? I believe reforming education, raising the driving age, raising the passing test score, adding continual tests and check-ins for older drivers, keeping up with maintenance, stress on keeping within the speed limit, and creating a “driving mode” on phones could possibly reduce the rising number of injuries and fatalities from vehicle accidents.

Education greatly reduces the risks of injury and death by teaching people how to safely navigate the roads. Learning to drive seems like it would be the first step to driving itself, but it never seems like people know the rules. Driver’s Ed, in my opinion, feels like a joke among my generation. Finding new ways to educate the youth is imperative, as too many a time do I see students skipping through their online Driver’s Ed with boredom. Studies have shown that teen boys learn better with virtual simulations of driving, yet girls had no effect. As our culture and learning styles change, driving education must adapt to the new generations.

I believe raising the driving age would help. Teens especially have not developed their prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain used for decision-making skills. Tell me, would you place an underdeveloped child in front of a potential death machine on wheels? These young teens are even scared to approach their teachers, so I find it completely illogical to place a kid behind a wheel. Raising the driving age would take down the risk of young kids getting immediately into accidents.

The requirement for passing a driver’s test varies by state from 70%-86%. That can greatly affect road safety from how easy the test is perceived and how people view the road. This test grade percentage should be raised in the state with low requirements for driving to be taken more seriously.

After taking a driver’s test there should be continual check-ins on a person’s driving quality. Alongside renewing a license, people should be required to retake a driving test. Many people are not fit to drive on roads. There should be readily available resources for people, young and old, to access physical and online books on road conduct.

Knowing how a car operates, knowing car maintenance, and knowing the signs on the road are the top of the barrel when it comes to owning and using a car. A part of Driver’s Ed should be dedicated to teaching people about the importance of frequently checking up with a car. There should be an easily accessible account, either online or on paper, that tells the owner of the vehicle the last time a car checkup was given, including oil changes or tires. That would leave no questions to the last time that a car was looked at.

The leading cause of distracted driving has always been the phone. Just as phones have an airplane mode, phone companies should implement a “driving mode,” where phones could only give important notifications if sent with high importance. Like low-battery modes, apps should be given permissions, which could allow social media to be temporarily blocked. If a person does need to type a reply, a text-to-speech option should be available, so as not to have the person take their hands off the wheel. Location tracking apps like Google Maps could notice that your location is moving and ask if you want to switch to a driving mode or automatically shut off access to apps. 

My sister frequently drives fast, and underestimates the speed of her car, especially with turning onto the highway or on roads. I thankfully haven’t been in a car crash with her, but her car has been beaten up from her road accidents. She gets distracted while driving, always looking outside the window, and having to jerk her car back to the road.

Seeing my sister’s mistakes has taught me to be conscious of the speed limit and to watch out for my surroundings a lot more than she does. I’ve always been one to take school seriously, and that extends to driving. I hold the fate of mine and countless others’ lives in my hands with my decisions. Driving is no joke and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Not that it can’t be a fun experience, but it can be deadly if an uneducated person sits behind a wheel. Learning all there is to know and taking the necessary precautions is a must in my book.

Driving always seems like a rite of passage, a new start, a new step in independence. With that comes serious responsibilities to keep the driver, passengers, and other drivers on the road safe. I believe we can reduce dangerous driving habits with reformed education, older driving ages, higher test scores, milestone driver’s tests, importance car maintenance, the weight of keeping with the speed limit, and innovation of new phone apps and modes could potentially save many lives from being hurt or killed. Humans are never perfect and there will always be mistakes to be made. But if extra precautions and care are taken towards driving large and plausibly dangerous vehicles, I believe that the high rates that plague charts can be lowered.