Anatomy of an Accident

When I was about 6 years old, my mom had a car accident on a busy city road at an intersection where there was front end damage to the car. The airbags deployed, but we were not severely injured. I was sitting in my booster seat in the back driver’s side. The seat belts did work, and the front airbags deployed. I remember being afraid, but only suffered minor. yet painful, abrasions for what must have taken several weeks. Despite the memory blur over time, I remember the sudden sound of metal, brakes, and the smell of the airbag. I remember the police coming out. I remember being scared. I remember my dad coming to pick us up while the car was towed.

This accident was not caused by carelessness or the driver not paying attention or speeding. It happened because of another car being in a hurry and getting into the turn lane too early.

According to the Oxford language dictionary, the word accident is defined as “an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.” All people make mistakes as is perfectly embodied Alexander Pope’s famous quote: “to err, is human.”

A lot of work has been done looking at accident prevention and minimizing the risks of accidents or errors. Most of this centers around both education and manipulation of a variety of system factors that reduce the risk of an accident or error. With respect to increasing highway and road safety, things such as speed limits, road signs, road conditions, requiring a license to drive, and vehicular design enhancements. Driver’s education is central in this effort. It is improving that driver’s knowledge base and skill set to be able to better predict, avoid, and manage unexpected events or circumstances.

I think the best way anyone could be safer on the road is simple. Awareness of the real risks of being on the road should not paralyze you from driving, but it should be the guiding reason behind leaving plenty of time to drive to your destination, always being alert and ready, and following the rules of the road which includes wearing your seatbelt, staying under the speed limit, and not driving if you have had anything to alter clear thinking including severe lack of sleep. Another common distraction for teens and younger drivers is likely the presence of other teens in the car: a brother and sister arguing or friends in the car singing and laughing and having a good time.

Since accidents will always happen, we need to require absolutely everyone in the vehicle to belt up and children to be in appropriate properly installed car seats. According the NHTSA, this has reduced vehicle deaths by 50% since proclamation as law. Taking a 100% no tolerance of any type of distraction while driving. We know the law is not to text and drive, but this should never happen just fo a minute while you are waiting at a redlight. Other distractions include talking on the phone, having a heated discussion or too much fun with friends in the car, or even eating and drinking.

Most importantly, alcohol or drug consumption and even extreme fatigue, impair your ability to respond, think clearly, and stay alert behind the wheel.

I believe that technology will continue to help us prevent more accidents and decrease the severity and mortality of those accidents. Artificial intelligence has the potential to help manufacturers build improved safety features, moving controls, and analysis of human factors into the vehicles of the future. For now, driver’s education can make the biggest impact. We probably do not revisit the basics of driver’s education and safety into the licensing system as much as we need to. Most states do not require a renewal that incorporates retesting or even required viewing of updated safety information and refreshing of defense skills. Additional public service announcements or billboards could help with this, but given the high numbers of accidents still continuing, we could benefit from increased attention to this effort.

Drivers literally drive the safety numbers of our highways. We should practice safe driving for the real reasons these laws have been put into effect, not only to avoid being ticketed. Safe speed limits, obeying traffic laws, not driving while under the influence of drugs, alcohol or sleep deprivation, and not using the phone or texting saves lives. The ones who ultimately improve safety are us. We control our own mortality in our vehicles, and we can be responsible for the lives of others around us. Driver’s ed is the start of driving but should be respected on a regular basis, if not only when we get behind the wheel and just think to obey the laws and avoid distractions.