Don’t be a Drowsy Driver

Everyone would be a lot safer if they drove in constant fear. Being on the road is scary because your life is always in the hands of everyone around you. One person’s incompetence or mistake could end your life. Which is why we should all be in fear of our lives when driving. Or better yet, everyone should be overly cautious when they drive. For the most part, people are competent enough to not do anything haphazardly. However, car accidents still occur. This needs to change. How though?
Driver Education is essential and is required in order to operate a vehicle. In Driver Education (and Joshua’s Law,) you learn how to protect yourself and navigate on the road. You remember to slow down when approaching a car on an upcoming shoulder. You memorize every sign and its meaning. These things are paramount to the safety of each individual driver. This keeps you safe. It doesn’t necessarily mean everyone else. Car accidents are a little more complicated than that.

Many factors go into a car crash. Drinking, no control of the wheel, drowsiness, current situation, texting, not using your blinker, braking suddenly, etc. Most of these reasons are, let’s face it, dumb. People shouldn’t be at risk of losing their life because you can’t wait 20 minutes to text someone back. Families shouldn’t be mourning because you thought it’d be fun to go for a joyride after 6 Coronas. While Driver Education is needed, some of the other factors require common sense. It is up to the individual to protect themself, yes. But it is also up to the individual to protect their fellow motorists from themselves.

Let’s narrow our focus. How can we reduce the number of deaths? Since many factors go into these accidents, there will be many solutions. For one, there should be stricter mental health checks. I know in Georgia this is already done, but creating more criteria to meet in order to obtain a license could weed out people who are mentally unfit to be on the road. Implementing a system like this in every state would make a huge impact. Another solution is funding more research on the causes of drunk driving. Locating the reasons for most drunk driving accidents would help find ways to prevent it. This could lead to implementation of these preventions that could halt most accidents from ever reaching the street.

While I am passionate about this topic, I have not experienced or had any family members experience accidents and/or driving irresponsibly. Although, I do have a story of what I was told when I first got my car.

When I was finally allowed to use my car after I got my license, my mom had a long talk with me about this new responsibility I’ve acquired. One of the last things she said during our talk was “Don’t drive if you’re feeling sleepy or tired. If your eyes start closing, pull over and take a nap. More people get into crashes from drowsiness than from being awake.”

This stuck with me as someone who has almost fallen asleep at the wheel before. I researched this and it turns out: she had a point. While I can’t find research that indicates more accidents occur while sleepy, I did see that you are four times more likely to be in an accident when you are drowsy compared to when you are awake. It was also compared to drinking while driving, about the two sharing the same effects on the driver: impaired reaction time. There needs to be more awareness of this. More people need to be aware of the dangers of driving while tired because I know if I didn’t doze off at the wheel with my mom in the car, I might not be here, typing this essay.

This is what needs to be done. Not only increasing awareness about drowsiness and driving, but about other things like past accidents and what caused them. Encouraging others to be extra cautious on the road also could leave a lasting impact on the culture of driving in this country, as many neglect the necessity of being hyper aware of your surroundings (especially when they’re moving!). And one of the most important things to me is for people to give themselves breaks. Driving to the side of the road or finding the nearest parking lot can really make a difference, especially when that difference is potentially saving a life. In all, car accidents are not talked about enough. The next generation can either continue the trend of car accidents in the present day, or we can advocate for safer roads with solutions that can be as impactful as these crashes. Remember, it is up to us, the driver, to keep us and everyone around us safe.