Safe Than Sorry

Every day, about 120 people are killed in a car crash. Each of those lives lost was someone’s grandparent, parent, child, or dear friend. Even though they died, their impact and life is not lost on many people. But according to most studies, around 94% of these car crashes are considered preventable. Preventable car crashes means the car crash occurred due to human error and could be avoided if the individual had better driving abilities or even decision making. Many of the actions that lead to car crashes include being distracted while driving, overspeeding, failing to yield, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Personally in my life, the son of our family friend died in a car crash a few years ago because of distracted driving. As he was driving down a one lane road, his phone fell down from the stand and he took his eyes off the road for one second. As his eyes went to the other side of the car and he went to pick up his phone, his car ran off the road and slammed into a tree. He tragically died on the spot. Even though this is just one example and it affected someone I know, preventable car crashes like these can be brought down if there was a much higher importance given to driver education. Many student drivers when they enter into driver education programs might feel bored, but the impact and the lessons that they learned in those classes can drastically have a positive impact on their life. In our state, if you are between the ages of 14.5 and 18, if you would like to drive a car at this time, you are required to take a Driver education course even before going to take your learners permit. I know of a family member who took their license with this method and after taking these classes, remarking how helpful it was for them and the strategies and guidelines they learned to make sure that they were safe on the road. 

Within the 94% of car crashes that were caused by human error, 20% of crashes were caused by drowsy driving and 26% were caused by them using their phone at the time of the crash. Both of these are choices that drivers take, whether to drive while they are tired or while looking on the phone. One of the biggest and most effective actions that can be taken is to bring legislation out that would ban the use of the phone and have strict enforcement of it. In some states, this rule is currently present but there is no enforcement at all. Many times when I am at the stop light while driving, drivers around me are looking at the phone. In some cases, people even are not paying attention to the light resulting in the driver behind them honking their horn at them. Another change that should be implemented is requiring all new drivers to take defensive driving classes. Defensive driving training is training many times given to individuals who might have had multiple points taken off their drivers license and had applied for reinstatement. But for new drivers learning how to drive, taking this course would be very helpful for them because it shows them the dangers of distracted driving and how to protect themselves from reckless drivers. 

When I look at my family, I don’t know of anyone who is a reckless driver, but I do know that there are times when they might be driving more aggressively than usual. I have noticed that when we are late, there are times when we increase how fast we are driving or pass vehicles more closely than usual. But on the other hand, my mom always remarks “Better be safe than sorry.” This essentially means that it is not worth it for you to get a ticket for overspeeding or get in an accident. It is much more worthwhile to be late than take these risks. As a result, I personally feel I am a much better driver because of heeding these words. Rather than try to risk speeding, learning to manage my time and leave a bit earlier to get somewhere on time is a much more effective strategy for me. 

One of the biggest steps for me to be a better driver is to move the phone away into my pocket. Currently I keep the phone in the phone holder but sometimes it is quite a distraction for me especially at the stop lights. Sometimes I feel that my eyes drift to the notifications that come up on the phone rather than pay attention to the signal. The best option for me would be to put my phone into the pocket rather than put it in a visible spot so my full concentration will be on the road and not on the internet.