How Can We Make the Road a Safer Place

Driving a car is something that most of us see as a completely normal everyday task and for the most part it is. Driving a car is something that becomes almost second nature after you do it enough and many people get to this point without realizing the great level of danger that comes with driving every day. The amount of deaths that come from driving related accidents is a ridiculously high number alone. In 2022 only there were just over 40,000 driving-related deaths. To put this number into perspective, airplane accidents account for about 32 injuries in the U.S per year and have 0 deaths most years. Driving can be a very dangerous task when done improperly which means driving education is one of the most important things to teach.

If you do not know how to drive you are more likely to get into an accident. An extremely simple statement that most would shrug off and say “of course I know how to drive.” Sadly for many this may actually be a lie unbeknownst to them. Most acquire a driver’s license and assume they know everything. The issue with this is that different states require different knowledge to pass the test, along with constantly changing road conditions. To be able to fully learn how to drive completely perfectly in all conditions would take most of us a lifetime. This is why increasing driving education is so important in reducing accidents. You can never know what situation may arise on the road so you need to be prepared for as much as you can be. Without solid driving education and an understanding that the road is a changing place, causing accidents or driving distracted is a much more likely possibility. Not to say the current driving education system is bad, but it’s not perfect.

Luckily not perfect means plenty of room for improvement. One thing that can be done to help reduce the amount of driving deaths is increasing the amount of education given on it. A standardized test and learning curriculum across all states would definitely help, everyone having the exact same knowledge instead of varying degrees of it. It’s an issue if two people both have a license but one never learned what a roundabout is. Another change that could be made is hammering home the dangers of distracted or impaired driving. Of course there are plenty of nonprofits and other organizations that push for education on this topic but at least in my experience, there is very little on this topic in information provided by the state to learn. Hearing about the dangers in a school assembly is one thing but actually learning it for your required test to get a license would likely imprint the information better into kids and others learning to drive. Understanding the dangers of distracted and impaired driving is extremely important to me personally as I’ve been in 2 accidents because of it.

One can barely be called an accident as a drunk driver dinged my car while it was parked but the other was a bit more serious. Luckily no one was hurt but on my way to school one day in my junior year of high school I was struck by a car that had run a stop sign. I did not have a stop sign and they went straight through into the side of my car. The car was ruined and to make it worse the cause of the accident was the man being on his phone. While I’m thankful to have walked away only a little rattled it really struck a nerve with me. The car I had saved up for gone in an instant because someone didn’t think following the law and paying attention to the road was important. With an issue this close to my heart, I feel real change in driving education is necessary and I’ll surely be doing my part in trying to change this and educate people.

Independently I do everything I can to make sure my own driving is as safe as possible. My phone gets placed into my center console so I’m never tempted and all my music is queued before I start driving. I never touch any substance if I even think there might be a chance I’ll be driving. Of course a seat belt is a requirement for anyone in my car and I like to take good care of my car to prevent mechanical failures. It is a bit hard for me to spread my knowledge to others as I don’t have the biggest platform but I do what I can with my friends and family. As I said before seatbelts are required in my car and if someone doesn’t want to wear one they’ve earned an explanation of the dangers of driving without it. I’ve gotten my whole family to do the same thing I do with my phone when driving as well. I’m still working on my friends but they’re a bit harder to get to put the phone down. I like to think I explain things in a way that is more educational than upset at a person for not doing something. As I stated before, the current driving education system is not amazing and I can’t blame people for not knowing things they were never taught. I simply don’t want people to experience the same thing I did, especially if they’re the ones at fault.

I truly hope from the bottom of my heart that change can come to driving education and we can start dropping the number of driving related deaths per year. The number will likely never be as low as airplane injuries but even bringing the number down 50% to 20,000 would be a massive improvement. Through my own means I will teach as many people as I can the dangers of driving and use whatever platform I may have to attempt to see real change in how the states approach driving education.