Traffic Jam County

Imagine an entire county that has the amazing talent of turning miles of road into a parking lot. When you think about it, it’s not all that amazing considering that people have places to be, but it is certainly impressive. What’s more impressive is how fast and early these “parking lots” are created. Some start as early as 7:00 in the morning when you just barely see the sun, and as fast as 10 minutes at times. However, in Greenville, South Carolina, motor fatalities are often the cause of these major traffic jams. In 2017, there were 70 fatalities from motor vehicles in my county. There are a lot of reasons why these accidents exist, such as texting and drinking. However, these have led Grenenville to become the number one county in motor vehicle fatalities in the state of South Carolina. The unacceptable part is that it’s not just my county. Many other counties across the country have contributed to more motor fatalities than fatalities in most American fought wars. This is a scary statistic that we should not take for granted and instead improve on.

One piece of advice that my parents have given me for driving is to assume the worst out of every driver. You have to always be aware of every single car, truck, or motorcycle on the road so you are not part of that statistic. In my county, we increase the importance of this tenfold. I remember being in the car one day with my mom when we got into an accident. We were merging off of the highway to meet the usual traffic jam on the main road that we call “The Parking Lot.” As soon as she parked we got hit the rear. The sudden force yanked me forward which hurt a bit (luckily I didn’t break a rib). Apparently the man just forgot to switch to the break. This negligence was dumb-founding to 9 year old me at the time. I wonder now how many people have died from that simple mistake. A mistake that should never happen under any circumstances. Another instance was with someone under the influence. My family and I were coming home from dinner when we saw someone in front of us swerving like crazy. They were practically on the opposite side of the road when they swerved to the left. If someone came down the opposite way, it would have been an easy collision.

My family and friends can all agree that Greenville drivers are the worst. A few months back, I gained my permit, and the questions were very straight forward. But while talking to my friends, who have their restrictions, it seems some of those questions that can involve negligence was not completely addressed in their final exam. Then I realized that a lot of people do not take proper Drivers Ed courses in my county. So a step that needs to be taken are more in depth courses that discourages negligence to the point where less people can cause accidents. They should talk a lot more about the driver’s mentality with alcohol and phones, on top of maneuvers that can avoid fatal injuries. When I get my restricted, I intend to be off my phone completely and pay very close attention to every car around. Case in point, don’t be like the people in “Traffic Jam County.” Play it smart and safe.

Sources:

https://www.independentmail.com/story/news/2018/04/28/part-greenville-county-and-sc-top-highway-fatalities/867306001/