Risks and Costs

Driving on the road is regulated into everyday transportation, which makes the action itself less remarkable; however, the risk and cost of driving lazily, unsafely, or under influence becomes irreplaceable. Long story short: time could never forgive the lives a single driving mistake took. Every moment in the car dictates the fate and future of every single person in the car. The statistics will prove it, “There were 39,508 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2021 in which 42,939 deaths occurred” (Federal Highway Administration. (2022). Highway statistics, 2021. U.S. Department of Transportation.). While driving is deceptively easy, a single mistake holds the fate of people’s lives. Because the dangers of driving are endless, safety in driving becomes essential through attentive focus, abiding by the laws, and setting up for success.

Attentive focus often gets overlooked by modern drivers, especially in teenagers. Through regulation and convenience, people simply drive and do not think much of it. Drivers use a mutual unspoken agreement (usually) which states, “I won’t be an idiot if you don’t either” and move on with the road trip. This mutual understanding lowers the standards of driving enough to allow space for blind spots. While mental blind spots appear to be acceptable enough, the idea merely increases the risks for life and death situations, which are not necessary. Furthermore, outside influence also battles for the driver’s focus. Cell phones, technology, loud music, peers, drugs, and drinks all commune together to create a more dangerous driving environment; things that are not bad in theory become harmful when the one behind the wheel interacts with them in an abusive way. The tricky part is it does not even seem to increase the chances of a crash, but it does dramatically. While attentive focus is easily overlooked, the cost without it becomes indispensable when it comes to the lives of the others in the car. Attentive focus contributes to safe driving while abiding by the laws.

The government designs laws to create a safer environment to punish the wicked and protect the innocent; the traffic laws are no different in principle. Each state has variations of certain traffic laws, with no state elevating above the others; however, the ideas for all traffic laws protect the people, making them infinitely valuable. Education of these laws and tips in defensive driving awareness creates the safest environment for the driving setting. Traffic laws ought to be obeyed, for the lives of the people, money, and effort of all first responders depends on it. The traffic laws keep every driver on common ground for the safety of all people, but the common person bends the law for personal efficiency. To disregard the laws, even at the level of speeding a few miles over the posted speed limits, increases the potential crashes and deaths. The gut reaction to speed up during a yellow light puts the people in the driver’s car, the people in every other car in or near the intersection, and the innocent pedestrians at risk of death in the name of efficiency. To disregard the laws, even the simplest of them, is to place everyone else’s life at stake. To place everyone else’s life at stake is to assign them their identity and worth to be less valuable than the driver’s driving efficiency. Laws establish protection for people; ignorance of traffic laws increases the cost in infinite amounts.

Setting up for success in the driving world includes: reformation of the current generation and education for the next generation. Because the modern driver bends the traffic laws out of convenience, the reformation of the current generation becomes essential. Most drivers immediately think for themselves and the ones in their immediate vehicle when they sit behind the wheel. The core motivation for the driver needs to be reformed into the safety of all people: in the driver’s car, in other surrounding cars, or pedestrians along the road. To reform the masses of current drivers in the modern age, the driver must begin with their own example. When drivers follow the laws, change their gut reaction to wait patiently, and set up the future generation with driving education, the future of the roads become safer, with less lives lost in deadly accidents. With statistics and stories of accidents, the future generation will grow educated in the risks and costs of driving. All driver’s education courses require a series of videos to display these things. To bury these things in their hearts, the emphasis and engagement of the information must become more suited towards the interests of the next generation. Education in the next generation becomes most effective when their actions conform to the information being presented. The current generation can set up the future safety with interactive resources, tangible rewards, and strict guidelines before sending a new driver on the road. The benefit outweighs the financial cost and effort in an infinite amount.

Driving is a dangerous action, forcing attentive focus, abiding by the laws, and setting up for success as indispensable forms of safe action. People in all settings are directly affected by the risk of each driver on the road: people in the driver’s car, passengers in other cars, pedestrians, and first responders. The attention of the one behind the wheel is the first line of defense against unsafe driving. The law creates a common ground for all drivers to keep all people groups safe; however, the execution of the laws becomes sloppy and lazy in the reality of the modern driver. The next line of defense is setting the future up for success in the reformation of the modern driver, and the education for the future drivers. Driving is a fantastic opportunity for transportation, but one must remember the risks and costs it takes every time they sit behind the wheel.