Preventing Meaningless Accidents

One of the most complicated things that Americans do in their day-to-day life is driving. However, because we do it every day and often multiple times a day it has become common place, and something that does not require a lot of thought. Because of this view on driving, we have seen more and more crashes, sometimes even fatal. Most of these car crashes are simply due to driver distraction or impairment, both of which are easily preventable.

Being the victim of a car accident which involved a distracted driver myself, I know just how damaging these types of accidents can be. During the crash I was involved in, my friend and I had come to a complete stop at a light, however the driver behind us who was looking at his phone did not stop and rear-ended us at about 45 MPH. In less than a second my friend’s family’s car was totaled, and it would take months before they could get it replaced. The crash also affected me personally. A few months prior I had fractured a vertebra in my back while jumping on a trampoline. Right before the crash I had been reaching down to pick something up of the ground, so when the car hit us, I was catapulted back into the seat. After the crash and the whiplash I had received, my recovery was greatly affected. It had set back my recovery drastically to the point that I am still affected by it to this day. These types of injuries, especially from something so preventable, need to stop.

What really needs to change for there to be any reduction in distractions starts with what we choose to do when we drive. Before even getting in the car, we need to choose to limit potential distractions: muting notifications and text messages, setting things in the trunk instead of the passenger seat, even locking the phone in the glove compartment if not being used. What I find myself doing half of the time is trying to fiddle with and being distracted by my GPS system while I am driving. To fix this problem I could simply put in a destination before I pull out of the driveway and leave it until I am completely stopped again. The main thing that must be done to accomplish all of these things is to plan ahead: know exactly where you are going, what you want to do and what you are going to need to accomplish these goals. Once you have a plan, you can successfully and effectively limit what might distract you along the way, making the drive safer for you and those around you.

In addition to this there are also some changes that could be made on a larger scale, to prevent distractions. Let us start with driving education. Driving education is important for both those that are learning to drive for the first time and those who already know how to drive, however there needs to be a few changes to this process. The current driver’s education course lacks something that will help reduce the number of crashes on the road. Although driving instructors do an excellent job warning drivers of the dangers of cellphones and other distractions, to have any real impact it needs to be more applicable to their students. That is why there should be a crash simulation included in the driver’s course. This crash simulation would include fictional people who get into a crash because of a needless distraction like a cellphone or other device. This crash scene would not be gory or show any type of wounds incurred, instead it would show the impact the crash on their life: they may not be able to work, have lost a loved one or even died. This simulation would show students, just like my crash has done to me, just how damaging a crash can be for something so pointless as a text.

Another way that the current state of driving could be improved is with the phones themselves. As I have stated most crashes happen with distractions from phones or other devices in the car, and often this distraction is a notification or something like that. Because of this, phones should be mandated to automatically silence notifications if it is moving at speeds over 20 miles-per-hour. Ideally, they should completely lock at these speeds only allowing the user to access a GPS, which would be controlled by verbal cues, and automatically reading of incoming text messages. It would not impact any incoming phone calls however to call someone you would need to say the contacts name instead of clicking on it. This has been implicated already in certain applications you can install on your phone, but it should be mandated for all phones to come with this functionality already installed.

The last thing that would improve the current driving dilemma would be treating a license as a certification. What I mean by this is that the driver license would need to be renewed like a certification, which requires you to demonstrate comprehension of all skills involved. Everyone gets comfortable with driving even though it is as dangerous as it is, I have witnessed this in my own driving. However, if we treated driving licenses more like certifications, requiring drivers to take a short course and skills test to renew it, then it would keep the dangers and how to avoid them fresh in drivers’ minds. This type of system would also help seasoned drivers to become accustomed to new technology or laws that may have come into effect. To accomplish this, drivers would be required to renew their license every four years, take a small review course, including the simulation stated above, and do a skills test. It would also require young drivers (16-20) to renew it every two years.

Unfortunately, the truth is that there are too many accidents happening from reckless and distracted driving, with many of them ending in death. Thankfully, we can prevent many of these distractions. There are some things that could be changed commercially to reduce distractions and promote safer driving. These changes include helping drivers and student drivers to understand how damaging these crashes are, mandating phones to silence if traveling over 20 mph or treating driver licenses more like certifications. In the end, however, it really comes down to what we choose to do and how we plan so that we can protect ourselves against distractions because even if all these things are mandated you still must choose to be a safe driver.