Driver deaths in America – preventable or far fetched?

Driver deaths in America – preventable or far fetched?

By Hannah Spence

Annually 34,000 people die in America as a result of driving. Incidentally, this is a higher total than the deaths of American soldiers in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This irrefutable statistic highlights the importance of drivers ed in making our roads a safer place to be as we actively seek to lower this number.

Harsher consequences for recklessness on roads could potentially act as a deterrent. For example, heftier fines, points on license, community service, being banned from driving for a certain period of time. It should be noted that many of these sanctions are already in place; by increasing awareness of new and existing measures through ad campaigns endorsed by the government and community outreach individuals are more likely to adhere to the rules.

Another method would be to use the stories of victims of dangerous driving and how it has affected their lives or families (for the deceased). This could be illustrated by having their pictures used in various social media campaigns. Individuals tend to respond more to

As well as this, having celebrities as representative or advocates against reckless driving would be an advantage due to the influence that they have.

Personally I have been fortunate enough to have never experienced a car accident however there have been too many times that I have been in the passenger seat and the driver is going over the speed limit . Or not indicating which way they’re turning. These may seem like unimportant actions when in fact they are probably most significant as it can lead to major accidents.

If people like me, who are passengers, were to call people (the driver) out for things like speeding then it would add to the perception of doing this as socially unacceptable. Perhaps it should be made mandatory for people to resit the theory part of their test every couple of years to make sure they still have the knowledge. Or make it somewhat like jury duty that you HAVE to do.