Name: Ashley Gestefield
From: WINDERMERE, Florida
Votes: 0
Making
our roads a safer place
Far
too many people are killed or injured every year in vehicle related
accidents. Most of these accidents are caused by very preventable
causes such as driving while intoxicated, distracted or tired. This
is a complex problem, but the answer may be a combination of factors
working together to help alleviate this problem and save lives on the
road.
Driver
education is an important place to start. If good driving habits are
instilled during drivers ed in a consistent and through
way, it can give new drivers a great baseline from which to take to
the road. It is also very important to emphasize the dangers which
exist if you do not abide by the rules that have been enacted to keep
everyone safe.
Distracted
driving has become an ever growing problem in our society. Through
things like social media usage, texting, and calling, distracted
driving poses an entirely new threat to people who are both learning
to drive for the first time, and people who have been driving for
years, who are then forced to adapt to the new road hazard.
There
have been a variety of methods that have been implemented and
attempts to try to decrease the frequency of distracted driving
cases, such as new laws being put into place, or optional settings on
cell phones to mute notifications while driving. Making texting and
using your phone while driving illegal may have in some cases
prevented some people from participating in the deadly action, but
not enough. Similar to speeding, people don’t think they’ll get
caught. People have a complex of ‘oh it won’t happen to me’.
People think they’re just checking one text on the way to work
won’t harm anything and same some time, but that decision often
prevents people from being able to live out the time they held so
dear.
To
remedy this deadly problem, increasing the penalty for distracted
driving would discourage people more effectively than it does now.
Depending on the state, getting caught texting and driving holds a
fine of as little as thirty dollars. No amount of money is even a
slightly justifiable consequence for taking a life. Instead of having
to pay a fine when caught, having your license suspended for an
amount of time would prove to be more successful and discourage
drivers. Additionally, spreading the word about how dangerous
distracted driving really is to people may get them to realize just
how careless they’re being. Showing statistics of exactly how
lethal this behavior is and communicating stories from actual people
who have felt the lethal effects of distracted driving would give
those in doubt a reality check about the practice. In addition,
leaders in the telecommunications industry working in cooperation
with cell phone manufacturers should work together to develop systems
to block all but emergency communication from cell phones that are
being used in motorized vehicles. There are existing programs in
elementary schools that try to address other dangerous tendencies
such as stranger danger, drug use, reporting suspicious on-campus
behaviors and/or activities. If the same mindset can be impressed
upon students from an early age, then perhaps it can become a
societal norm to consider distracted driving as unacceptable behavior
with deadly consequences.
Some
of the education could be presented in video format as well as
statistical information could be presented by teachers along with law
enforcement agencies. For example, previous generations thought
nothing of throwing trash out of the car as they are traveling down
the highway. But through a consistent campaign of public education
and societal pressure, littering has become a very unfashionable and
anti-socially perceived behavior. With our collective efforts,
distracted driving could be eradicated.
Driving
while intoxicated is also a very serious problem today. According to
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration alcohol-related
collisions cause approximately $37 billion in damages annually. Every
51 minutes someone dies from an alcohol-related collision.
In
Europe, drunk driving is one if the main causes of mortality for
people between 15 and 29.
Enforcement
measures against drunk drivers such as roadside sobriety check points
have helped get many drunk drivers off the road, but the answer may
be to keep them from getting behind the wheel in the first place. If
a technological solution could be put in place that would require a
rudimentary breath test to allow the operation of a motor vehicle,
many lives could be saved.
I
have not personally been in a car accident. I am always conscious of
my family’s safety in the car. I always double check that everyone
is wearing their seatbelts and that my little sister is properly in
her booster seat.
