Prevention is the Cure

Prevention is the Cure

Rachael Burns

According to the CDC, “Every day about seven teens die due to motor vehicle crashes, and hundreds more are injured.” That adds up to 2,400 teens who lose their lives in vehicle accidents. Motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of death among teens and young adults. Young, uninformed drivers are not only a threat to their own safety, but also the lives of others. This is a heartbreaking problem with a possible solution.

I believe it should be a legal requirement for students to take Drivers Education before becoming fully licensed drivers. A study by the AAA Foundation revealed that teens who go through a structured Drivers Ed program are safer on the roads. This course not only teaches the mechanics and rules of driving; but also stresses the danger of distracted and impaired driving. With motor vehicle accidents being the number one killer for teens and young adults, having mandatory classes can help prevent tragic loss of young life in America.

Deer feeding at night, months of snow and ice, and narrow dirt roads all make for hazardous road conditions in upstate New York. In these rural populations, towns and destinations are often many miles apart. This means everyone drives, no matter the weather. To keep transportation as safe as possible, it is paramount that drivers have full attention to the road and changing conditions. Three winters ago, I was riding home with my older sister from our commuter school. It was an icy day and we took a sharp corner a little too fast. We skid completely out of control, went off the road, and flipped our family mini-van. I had not been wearing my seat belt, but thankfully I was completely fine. This taught me in invaluable lesson about icy roads. However, though I have seen the danger of being inattentive, I have fallen into the same trap myself.

According to the CDC, texting while driving is the most common cause of distracted driving. My own experience backs that up. Often, I am switching between a navigation app and my music app, which is completely unsafe. The CDC has this powerful quote about texting and driving, “At 55 miles per hour, sending or reading a text is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.”

The strategy for curbing (no pun intended) these behaviors is twofold. First, I am buying a phone mount for my car. Using this mount, the navigation can be prepared before leaving, and then will continue to be hands free for the remainder of the drive. Secondly, I am curating several different driving playlists on my phone for hands free music. Then, before leaving, I can pick a playlist by mood, configure my directions, and set my phone in the mount without any further handling. New York state has fairly strict laws on phone use inside a vehicle. Everything from texting to scrolling Facebook in traffic – even using GPS apps. If a driver is looking down at a phone in their hand, they are breaking the law. First time offenders can get up a 150 dollar fine as well as a 93 dollar surcharge. Laws like these are to be commended, as they keep our roads and drivers safer.

Living in the middle of nowhere has its perks. Cheap land, tight knit communities, and beautiful scenery are all wonderful. After 20 years of living here, a change of pace is appreciated. The nearest city is Rochester NY, only a quick hour and a half drive away. After a fun but exhausting day spent in the city, the long drive back can become unsafe when I get drowsy. According to the National Safety Council, “Driving after going more than 20 hours without sleep is the equivalent of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08% – the U.S. legal limit.”

The sleepiness problem has a simple fix. A self-imposed curfew, not of when I need to be home, but of when I need to leave. This prevents leaving at the last possible second and speeding in order to make it home in time for the curfew. On days where I know I am going to be far from home, I will set a vibrating reminder on my phone at both nine and nine thirty to notify me to get on the road. This gives me plenty of time to safely drive home and get good nights rest, ensuring safe future drives as well.

Drivers Education helps students learn strategies for avoiding dangerous driving situations. They have a proven track record to make young drivers safer on the roads. Making this course mandatory for teens who wish to drive ensures safety on our roads and less loss of life.

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, March 2). Distracted driving. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/distracted_driving/index.html.

Drivers are falling asleep behind the wheel. National Safety Council. (n.d.). https://www.nsc.org/road-safety/safety-topics/fatigued-driving.

AAA’s new York ONLINE defensive driving. New York AAA Driver Program. (n.d.). https://newyork.aaadriverprogram.com/.