Power and Responsibility of Driving

It should come as no surprise to any observer that in the United States cars reign king of mobility. Whether one seeks to travel to neighboring state, commute to work, or buy a loaf of bread, an automobile is the most likely transportation. Cars allow the individual human, near regardless of physical ability, to propel themselves at speeds and distances unthinkable until less than a century ago. With gentle press of the foot, one unlocks more energy than could be exerted by over one hundred people. With this awesome ability of movement comes great risk of harm to oneself and to others. Accordingly, drivers have great responsibility, legal and societal, to ensure safe operation of their vehicles. Driver education lies center of one’s responsibility of safe operation.

America is a nation of drivers; per the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, in 2022 94.5 percent of Americans of driving age reported driving at least occasionally. This comes out to nearly 255 million Americans driving an average of 2.44 trips and 30.1 miles a day. ⁽¹⁾ Such widespread usage unfortunately results in injury to drivers and others alike. In 2022 there 5.93 million police-reported traffic crashes resulting in 42,514 fatalities and 2.38 million injuries. ⁽²⁾ 8,952 of these fatalities were those not even operating motor vehicles, pedestrians and pedalcyclists, presenting 21 percent of all traffic related fatalities. ⁽²⁾ I do not present these statistics to demonize automobile usage but to highlight the seriousness with which drivers should treat the task. Motor vehicles can easily be deadly to occupants and especially to unprotected pedestrians, something that should be emphasized through driver education. It is my belief that all new drivers should then be required to complete a driving course before being issued a license.

The idea that driver education be mandatory is by no means unique. At the time of writing 37 states require prospective drivers to complete some form of driver education. Requirements vary by state, but generally are limited to those younger than 18 years old as younger drivers are more likely to get into accidents. ⁽³⁾ Levels of education required vary but seem to typically be roughly 30 hours of classroom/online instruction and 6-8 hours of hands-on training. I would like to see this education mandated nationwide. I understand the expense that would be placed on young drivers and their families but in comparison to the cost, emotional and monetary, of an accident it cannot compare.

Another aspect of driver education that should be brought to the foreground is that of driving’s risk to pedestrians and cyclists. As mentioned earlier, 21 percent of driving-related fatalities are of pedestrians and pedalcyclists, 18 percent and 3 percent, respectively. ⁽²⁾ Injuries are also common with 130,961 injuries reported for the demographic. ⁽²⁾ What is interesting is the disproportionate risk of death to non-occupants of vehicles vs occupants. The death to fatality ratio of non-occupants is 1:15 and of occupants 1:79. This should come as no surprise with the pedestrian’s bodily exposure and the excellent occupant crash safety of modern vehicles. What I hope can be taught through driver education is again the seriousness of operating such a powerful piece of equipment and how quickly an accident can occur.

For the sake of brevity, I’ve kept my focus primarily on driver education. Being an urban planning student I’m passionate about how the built environment can be used to make driving safer. Street and intersection layout can encourage driving at slower (and therefore safer) speeds, enhance visibility of pedestrians, separate forms of transportation from each other, as well as offer effective alternatives to automobiles. Also worth mentioning is the increasing use of smartphones creating distraction while driving as well as vehicle design. Automobiles are becoming safer for their occupants but are trending larger and therefore more dangerous to others.

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I have unfortunately had the experience of being in a car accident. I was 19 years old and had been driving for about a year. I wanted to visit some friends and family in California, a six-hour drive from my home in northern Arizona. My family was concerned about me going on my first long drive, in the evening after work no less, but I was young and confident. The long drive went smoothly and without incident and I was happy to have made it. When I arrived though my cousin was not yet home and so I drove to lunch, and there my accident occurred, driving at low speed on a small and well-built road. A distracted driver hit my rear-right corner of my truck sending me into a PIT maneuver-like spin after which I rolled backwards into an embankment. Luckily, no one was injured but I learned how quickly and easily an accident can occur.

I like to think that I’m a safe driver. I’ve taken driver education and was at one point a delivery driver, an experience from which I’ve taken safe habits. I don’t touch my phone while driving and keep my truck maintained to reduce my chance of breakdown. These habits all reduce my chances of an accident, increasing my own safety as well as that of others. This idea of safety for others is an important but I feel often understated aspect of driving culture. Roads are social place, not in the traditional sense of where one can converse with others, but in that decisions are intertwined. For this reason, I treat driving safety with respect as it’s not just my life but of others and I hope that I would be treated with the same regard. Driver education is an important piece of this regard, and I cannot advocate for it enough. Driving is so common in our lives as to be treated with casual indifference, something education can combat.