Name: Munji Rwoni Nfor
From: San Antonio, Texas
Votes: 0
An Enterprise For Education
If
you’re driving 10 miles above the speed limit, and everyone is
passing you, you’re probably in Texas. Though this old joke is
amusing, it’s an unsettling reality in my home state. I always
noticed that drivers on Texas roads were different, compared to
drivers in other states, but never
realized
how bad it was until I started driving. While learning, I was taken
aback by the messages mounted on multiple overpasses. “Don’t
Drink and Drive, Or The Cops Will Take You For A Ride”
and
“3,567 Drivers Died on Texas Roads Last Year”. Though
these messages encourage many to be careful, the number of deaths on
Texas roads continues to be notoriously high, just like the rest of
the nation. So what can be done?
Driver’s
education is the most important part of creating a competent and
careful driver, but I believe that the inclusion of accident
statistics in the drivers ed curriculum could instill
cautiousness. As a native Texan, I often see backcountry when
traveling, and was surprised to learn one day that over half of all
traffic fatalities occur on rural roads! Urban
fast lanes are dangerous, but
on
rural roads drivers have a greater chance of running into wildlife,
experiencing a false sense of security, narrow streets, lack of
street lights, greater likeliness running into drunk drivers, and
longer wait time to receive medical attention if in an accident.
Information such as this is widely unknown to most drivers, but could
enlighten many on the dangers they could encounter in various
environments and situations.
Another
way to ensure safety could be the creation of personalized
driving lessons that are to be taught after every infraction. Each
vehicle in the country would be installed with the software needed,
and the lessons would be based upon the mistake made, as well as past
collected data from their beginner lessons. Most Americans receive
their license at 16 years of age, after completing a basic driver’s
education course that is relatively the same across the nation. But
as time has passed, the death toll has climbed, and much of the
course has remained unchanged. With personalized
lessons, habits that
would
endanger the driver in the future, could be curbed early in their
education.
When
I was 6 years old I was
in
my first car accident. My mother hit the side of a car on a busy
street, but the
driver’s
recklessness put them at fault, and almost all of my family in the
hospital. Ideally, the knowledge that every driver has the ability to
hold one’s life in their hands within a matter of seconds, should
be enough to ensure people are
cautious
and wise. In
reality, of the over 200 million Americans that drive, more than
3,000 will die each day due to recklessness and ignorance. I believe
something can be done.
