Saving Lives through Driving

Over the past few years, fatal car crash numbers have risen significantly. From the year 2018 to the year 2022, accidents have increased by over 16 percent. In 2018 the number of fatal accidents was 36,835. This number rose to 42,795 in the year 2022. Driver safety is crucial in reducing the number of fatal accidents that occur daily.

Chances of survival goes up when you take more precautions while driving. Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death by 45 percent. In 2020, unbuckled passenger fatalities were up by 14 percent compared to 2019. Driving at high speeds increases the chances of fatality due to the increased crash energy. In 2021, speed played a role in 29 percent of fatal accidents. In the US, car crashes are leading cause of death. There are around 14.3 car related deaths per 100,000 people. Teenagers are especially at risk of fatal car accidents. Car crashes is the number 1 cause of death for people 13 to 19 and teenagers are three times more likely to die in car crashes than people 20 and older.

Many of these deaths are due to drivers not caring enough about their safety or others. Changing simple driving habits can reduce the amount of fatal accidents. Wearing a seat belt, reducing speed, and double checking before turning or switching lanes are all precautions to prevent accidents. Drivers can be careless or in a hurry, which is understandable, but that should not be an excuse for reckless driving. Taking your eyes off the road for even a second can result in an accident.

Alcohol impairment is another case of reckless driving. About 37 people in the US die in drinking related car crashed every day. In the year 2021, 13,384 people died in alcohol-impaired driving. Drinking, even a little bit, reduces brain function, impairs thinking, and reduces reasoning and muscle coordination. In the US, 31 percent of all traffic fatalities involve drunk drivers. The blood alcohol limit in the US while driving is 0.08. At 0.08 blood alcohol concentration, the body has several impairments. These include poor muscle coordination, detection of danger is lessened, lack of judgement, and impaired reasoning.

Some precautions have already been taken in reducing the risks of driving. What else can we do though? We have already implemented drivers’ school, classes for reckless drivers, and tests before people get their license. Drivers should be aware of the risks of driving and aware of how to safely drive, but this doesn’t seem to be the case. Is it due to poor teaching? Should there be more tests and classes before people are allowed to drive?

I personally have never been in an accident. But I have experienced poor and reckless driving on the part of my friends and family. When I was younger, I used to drive to soccer practice with my dad a few nights a week. I always dreaded these nights. My dad was a reckless driver and it scared me to drive with him. I was scared that we could get into an accident or that he would harm someone else driving. We somehow never got into an accident, but the odds were definitely against us. Obviously at this point in my life I could not do anything about his driving; but as I got older and was able to drive myself, I would offer to drive so that his reckless driving could not affect anyone else. To this day he has not improved his reckless drinking and driving. To prevent him from having a fatal accident, someone else in my family always drives or we do not go to the place we had planned. This is upsetting because it changes my everyday decisions drastically depending upon his state. After seeing his reckless driving, I promised myself that once I could drive, I would never drive drunk or recklessly. To this day I have not been involved in an accident or driven alcohol impaired.

People who see family and friends driving recklessly need to do more to prevent them from driving or correct their recklessness. Simply pointing out that you shouldn’t be doing something isn’t going to help. People need consequences for exhibiting this reckless behavior. Maybe if more people spoke out against drunk and reckless driving, we would have less fatal accidents.

I can take steps to improve my driving as well as others. By making sure that I am double checking my mirrors, making sure my phone is not a distraction while driving, and making sure my seat belt and the seat belts of the other people with me are buckled; I can improve my own driving. Helping others understand that getting distracted by things while driving is dangerous, we can improve recklessness. Anyone can see how many drivers are on their phones as they drive down the road or the mothers who are distracted by their children in the back seat.