Read me! Read me! But not while you’re driving!

Have you ever suffered the terrible fate of being in a wreck? Considering that in the United States alone, there is an accident every six minutes and ninety people die every day in these crashes, you probably have been a part of one of these tragedies. Collisions in the U.S. are the number one killer of children, a leading cause of injuries, and one of the most preventable catastrophes that are still so prevalent.

Every single year in America some twenty thousand children die, with over four thousand of those children dying in a motor vehicle crash. Thanks to distracted, inattentive, or simply inexperienced driving, over four thousand families lose their kids every single year. A lack of proper training for teenagers and the common absence of properly installed car seats for infants help to exacerbate this problem. On average there is a child involved in a collision every twenty-five seconds. To lower these horrific numbers, it is most necessary to train teenagers correctly on how to drive safely and defensively, but also to warn young children on the dangers of playing in the street and to ensure that infants are safe by properly installing their car seats.

It only takes one inattentive driver to ruin or even end someone’s life. Every year in the United States alone over thirty thousand people die, and over two million people are injured because of motor vehicle crashes. And while many of these deaths come from drivers themselves, many others are from pedestrians who were run over. These pedestrians are at much higher risk than almost everybody else. If a car were to hit a pedestrian at just thirty-one miles per hour, their chance of survival would be just ten percent. To put this in perspective, consider that if a car were to get T-boned at the same speed, the drivers and passengers would each have a ninety percent chance of survival. Even with this awful statistic, there are plenty of ways to reduce the number of dead pedestrians, namely by reducing speed. If someone were to be hit by a car going twenty-five miles per hour, only slightly slower than before, then their chance of survival would jump all the way to sixty percent. By traveling just six miles per hour slower, pedestrians are six times as likely to live in the event of a collision.

Vehicle accidents are obviously tragic and awful mistakes. However, there are many ways to vastly reduce the number of these needless deaths. In addition to reducing your speed and remaining focused on driving, there are improvements to roadway infrastructure that can improve safety. For example, medians, improved walkways, and speed bumps in residential areas are just a few of the ways that almost all streets can be improved. Be that as it may, not many people get to make the decisions for safe street design, but every driver on the road can listen to simple data to understand how they can help lower the number of mutilated bodies which result from these horrific accidents. The most crucial time for people to ensure they are driving safely and correctly is from ages sixteen to eighteen, as these are by far the most dangerous ages for drivers, since they have such limited experience. The most important step that these teenagers can take is to go through a driver’s education class. Classes like this have been shown time and again to dramatically decrease the likelihood of pointless deaths and injuries. Twenty-four percent more teenagers, who do not take a class, die than those who do receive even just a rudimentary driver’s education. Finally, there is one rule that all drivers of all ages should always follow: the three second rule. It is a rule that governments, organizations, and driver’s ed classes alike have been telling people to follow for years. It is a rule that if everyone followed, the roads would be much safer. It is a rule that has been shown time and again to be successful, yet so many people refuse to obey it. The three second rule simply requires that you always stay at least three seconds of distance behind the car in front of you. Following this rule on all roads, whether you are going fifteen miles per hour through a school zone or seventy miles per hour down the interstate, will ensure that you have enough distance to recognize a problem and reduce your speed without crashing.

Overall, there are many ways to lessen the havoc and death of the roadway, but drivers must always be vigilant because a single reckless driver or pedestrian can create dangerous circumstances. However, simply by paying attention, being aware of the dangers of the road, taking some form of driver’s education, and always following the three second rule, you can substantially increase your chance of being a driver, who is safe, healthy, and most importantly, alive.