Driving

Elliot Vital

30 November 2020

Driving and Death

One Hundred and Two. This is the number of people killed every day in motor vehicle crashes. This accumulates to about thirty eight thousand people a year, a number that is excessively high. I personally was in a car accident when I was four years old. I can’t remember it, but I know it was due to the incompetence of the other driver. He T-boned my mother after running a red light. I am lucky, nobody was hurt and this was the only car wreck I was ever in, however I have had countless close calls throughout my lifetime. If these people were properly educated on the rules of the road, this would not have happened. Most of these accidents could have been avoided using one simple solution. Replacing the traffic lights with roundabouts. Roundabouts reduce traffic injuries by seventy five percent. This would be extremely vital in reducing death and injury in motor vehicle collisions. Twenty One percent of all traffic deaths happen on an intersection. These would be virtually eliminated, and although it would be expensive to take out most intersections and traffic lights, saving human lives is a worthy cause. Sadly, most people are not educated on these statistics. I could not tell you the number of times I have witnessed wrecks due to people running red lights, or almost wrecking into other cars due to misinformation on basic things like turning lanes, and red light laws.Getting a driver’s license is way too easy in this country. The system we have in place is flawed. In a standard drivers test, most people do not even have to drive on the interstate, or in areas unlike those they live in. Most people that live in a rural area do not learn how to drive in an urban environment and vice versa. This causes a big problem when these people are introduced into new driving environments, causing wrecks. We should revamp the driver education system to give the average driver a better understanding of all different types of driving. This would be extremely helpful in combating driver fatalities. The third thing we could do is to make people more aware of the dangers of drunk driving and distracted driving. Too often people think that they can text and drive or that they can be drinking and driving. They cannot. This leads to death, and injury. One in four accidents are caused by distracted drivers, specifically texting and driving. These accidents could be easily avoided by educating young people on the risks of driving and texting. Another contributing factor of accidents is drinking and driving. This needs to be stopped however possible. There should be more education about the risks of intoxicated driving. I personally never get on my phone while driving, and make sure to stay under the speed limit. I never drive under the influence and i make sure to always obey the rules of the road. I advocate for safety when driving at all times. I always make sure to be as safe as possible, and you should too.