Safer in the Skies Than On the Roads?

I recently took my first trip in an airplane overseas for a school trip. I was very nervous about being on a plane. I have never been a big fan of heights, and I’ve seen far too many movies about plane crashes. I was not exactly confident in my abilities to survive on an island with only a volleyball as my companion. However, the day before the flight, my dad tried to reassure me about the flight, telling me that “It’s safer to ride in a plane than drive on the roads!” Unfortunately, I was still nervous about the flight after that, but his statement really stuck with me for a different reason. In my mind, flying in a plane was extremely dangerous. What happens if something goes wrong? Well, if something does go wrong, the person at the “wheel” is a highly trained pilot who has gone through multiple years of flight training and has gotten their degree in the field. What if something goes wrong in a car? The person behind the wheel could be anyone ages 16 and up. Why is it that pilots must go through years of studies and training to operate their vehicle, but the 16 year old must go through a short written test and some optional practice drives in a parking lot to get certified to be on the roads. This may seem silly, as, clearly, operating a 500 ton plane at 40,000 feet in the air should require more training than driving a 2 ton SUV on ground level. However, why is it that according to the reports, in 2023, there were 327 total air deaths compared to the 40,901 highway deaths?

What is the solution to decreasing this number? 4 years of college and specific driving training to drive a car? Maybe not. But on the right track. Education is the best change that we can make to change the pattern of car accidents. Not every frustrated, peer pressured, or distracted driver can be cured of those factors, but they can be educated on the risks of reckless driving and the consequences of not following the law. A change in the system should really be implemented to make a difference. In the US, teens are required to be 16 and take a written permit test in order to get on the roads. Then, to get their license, they must perform 65 hours of driving with an adult, and then, a short, in person drive at the DMV. However, the permit test does no more than teach the basics of driving and identifying road signs, and the 65 hours of experience is based on the honors system. I am speaking from experience in the state of Pennsylvania. This system is not necessarily the case in all states, and it especially isn’t the situation in other countries.

Let’s look at Germany, for example. One of my best friends has lived there her whole life. In Germany, 2,839 people died in road accidents in 2023, according to the reports. Using that same report, the United States’s number of road deaths is 40,990. The US’s glowing report of road deaths far surpasses every other country on the report. Second behind them is Mexico, at 16,662. The US also has more road deaths than the first 34 countries on the list COMBINED. That is every country with validated data excluding Colombia and Mexico.

Back to Germany, my friend was able to give me some of her first hand experience in getting a license to drive. The very first thing she had to do was sign up at a driving school. She said that there are a bunch of them in every city, giving them easy access to the schooling they need to get a license to drive. This is the first step that they use that prepares their teenagers to be on the roads- education. They then have to take 12 theory lessons on driving, one a week. During those lessons, each German student must complete the test of around 1800 questions on an app until they get 100%. After you complete these online tests, there is an in-person written test where you can’t score more than 9 error points. After these tests, an applicant must pass a first aid test and an eye course. After that, you can finally move on to the driving lessons, where you drive in both the city and the Autobahn. Once you complete the driving lessons, you may take the driving test. The test lasts about 30 minutes, where if the instructor has to intervene at any point, you immediately fail. If you do finally pass this test, you get your license.

As an American, this process seems insane. In addition to completing all those steps, they also all cost money. After my friend explained all this to me, I thought, why would anyone in Germany want to complete all these steps? Is it too much? That is a question for us all to answer. Is a more intensive education process worth the over 40,000 deaths? The process might not be convenient, but it assures that those on the road know exactly what they are doing. At the heart of decreasing road deaths is education. The data shows this. In countries where multiple evaluation steps are necessary, drivers are safer, and less people die. In order for America to make a change, the education system must change, and it must be more difficult to get on the roads in the first place.

Although a system change is what’s needed, there is still much to do in the community. Raising awareness of tragedies and promoting further education courses for current drivers is important. I received a local scholarship from a family in high school whose daughter died in a car accident. She had been using her phone and veered off of the road into a tree. This experience was extremely traumatic for her family and for our school community. I had participated in a 2 mile run hosted by her family when I was younger to raise awareness for distracted driving, specifically with cell phones. I felt honored when I received her memorial scholarship in high school, after I had done the runs when I was younger and felt deeply touched by the issue. When I was in high school, another one of my good friends had a similar type of accident in her car. Thankfully she was okay despite totaling the car, but she had been on her phone when she veered off into a tree. I remember being utterly shocked at another instance in my own school community. These instances have made me realize how deadly a cell phone can be while driving. Recently, my state’s governor passed a law making it illegal to be operating/ holding a phone while driving. I have seen the signs while I have been driving: “Hands off the phone! It’s the law!” I have been encouraged by these and I hope it starts to make a difference. I firmly believe that phones are the biggest issue facing teens when it comes to driver’s safety. Unfortunately, it is not just a problem with teens, it’s everyone.

Riding on a plane might always be safer than driving in a car. However, America still needs to work on bridging the gap between those two numbers. There is always some place for us to start. Awareness is huge, education is imperative. Change is possible for us, and it can be life saving.