Slow Drives Saves Lives

In the United States, we are blessed to enjoy the freedom that our constitution grants us. Unfortunately, the freedom that we love has become our double edged sword on the road. For unknown reasons, a person behind a vehicle becomes aggressively impatient and speeds recklessly without the concern for others on the road. I believe that America needs to re-educate their drivers and use technology to enhance safety. After my own near death experience, I am a firm believer that Americans need to be more aware of the dangers of reckless driving. I am hoping that more communities will notice the rising number of vehicular deaths and protest for safer roads for everyone.

In order to prevent more road accidents in America, we have to start by educating our youth and re-educating our current drivers. Education is an important step to advocate safe driving because it has shown tremendous results in the past. Communities such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers were able to raise awareness against drunk driving and save many lives. According to alcohol.org “Since 1980, MADD reports that they have helped to cut drunk driving deaths in half, saved around 350,000 lives, and helped more than 850,000 victims.” If this group was able to achieve this amount of success, then America can create more safe driving groups to prevent vehicular deaths. There are many people who are affected by reckless driving and it is important to educate all drivers on the road. In comparison, when OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) began to implement safety in the construction field, they were able to reduce the amount of deaths in the jobsite. MADD and OSHA have proven the theory that when people are educated, they are able to reform and be more aware of their surroundings to prevent dangers.

In addition to educating Americans, we need to maximize the use of technology to enhance safety in our vehicles and roads. An example would be that All State gives drivers the option to use a driving as that measures their safe drivability, to have the potential to receive a discount on their insurance plan. The concept of using a monetary incentive to promote safe driving is a great idea. I believe that more insurance companies can prevent reckless driving by asserting this device since insurance prices have soared and people are looking to save money. It will be a win-win situation for everyone since there will be safe driving, less accidental claims, and discounted insurance rates. Another way to combat reckless driving is to place cameras on stop signs, where drivers have a tendency to speed or race. Currently, school buses have cameras on their stop signs to prevent drivers from driving recklessly around kids. This feature in school buses has already reduced the amount of school bus fatalities because drivers who are caught by the cameras pay a hefty fine and receive points on their license. Overall, it is important to utilize cameras on vehicles and roads that have a higher tendency to have reckless driving.

Coincidentally, I was almost involved in a dangerous car accident about 3 weeks ago. I was going home from school around 10:30 pm and the road was very dark with minimal street lights since it was near a state park. I was driving around 25 mph on a 30 mph speed limit because I am a naturally safe driver. All of a sudden, a car speeds from the left side and misses the highway merger then proceeds to continue approaching me head on in my lane at around 50 miles per hour. I was able to honk at the driver really loud and pound on my brakes. The driver swerved his car and barely missed my vehicle by an inch. Thankfully, I left without any collision, but I was mentally shocked from this incident. I drove away safely, but the reckless driver almost took my life and if it weren’t for me going less than the speed limit, bad things would have happened. Due to this recent traumatic experience, I want to encourage people to drive slow accordingly because it gives you time to react quickly.

Lastly, I believe that we already have great programs such as defensive driving that can help everyone on the road. Defensive driving courses should be mandatory for all drivers and should be a requisite to get your driver’s license. The courses should be taken the first time you get your license and every time you have to renew it. Despite the fact that it will be annoying for many, it will save countless lives on the road. Drivers need to put their egos and selfishness aside and attend these courses to protect themselves and other drivers. If the government can create more classes and programs, this will surely reduce the number of deaths in vehicular accidents.

In conclusion, it is best that we take a proactive approach to safer driving. If we encourage our communities to educate all drivers and participate in safe programs, we can create safe driving for everyone. Nearly everyone in America has been affected by reckless driving and it is time that we combat this together as a country. We need to start creating more awareness for safe driving because it is very important to save lives that do not need to be taken away.