Don’t Become a Statistic

Don’t Become a Statistic

Every year 1.35 million people worldwide die in road crashes. The factors contributing to road crashes and deaths include poor road infrastructure, non-road worthy vehicles, unenforced or non-existent traffic laws, unsafe road user behaviors and inadequate post-crash care. Reducing road risks requires a commitment from governmental agencies, road designers and law enforcement. Paramount to this commitment is the need for education and public awareness. Strong educational campaigns are essential to increase understanding and raise awareness that will motivate individuals and governments to take actions that make real changes.

A new study that followed more than 150,000 teen drivers over eight years has found that driver’s education significantly reduces crashes and traffic violations among new drivers. The study provides critical evidence that young drivers who do not take a driver’s education course are 24 percent more likely to be involved in a fatality or an accident with an injury. Driver education provides young drivers with necessary knowledge, and helps develop safe driving habits that reduce fatalities. Taking a high school or private driver education course is one of the most important ways to reduce these deaths. Public agencies and school districts need to educate their communities about the benefits of driver education within a community, so that the district will receive the funding necessary to support high school driver education programs.

Another way to reduce traffic fatalities is by increasing awareness and encouraging changing habits through public service announcements. PSAs can be presented in several forms including in person high school gatherings, video calls and video messages. Short anecdotes by teenagers for teenagers have a tremendous impact on a young person’s behavior because of their realistic nature. For a PSA to be effective it must be presented in such a way that students can relate to the topics and the messenger.

When I started driving with my friends, I noticed that most of them did a great job of helping the driver. In addition to the important job of adjusting the music, the co-pilot would assist with pointing out road hazards and providing gentle feedback about the driving. It was an unwritten rule that the “navigator” would pay attention and the assist driver. On one occasion, I was riding around the township with my friend Ella who had just received her license a couple of days earlier. As we drove along a winding back road late that night, Ella’s mom called her asking for her to come home because it was about to start raining. While it was important that she obeyed her mother, Ella significantly increased her speed to several miles over the limit in order to get home in time. I jokingly said, “Hey Ella, where did you learn how to drive?” When she didn’t take my hint or to slow down, I reminded her about a crash in the township next to ours where some teenagers crashed when their car went over the guard rail. I reassured her that her mom would not be mad if we got home just a little late if it was because we were being safe. Peer to peer conversations among safe driving friends like this are essential for good driving habits.

Another way to reduce road crashes is to understand that driving requires the driver to be constantly open to new information. In the same way that a driver is scanning the road looking out for hazards, a driver is continuously learning new ways to improve their own driving skills. When my parents tell me about a dangerous intersection or there is an article on my social media feed, I make sure to retain the information and share it with my friends so we can all improve our driving performance.

Annual highway deaths in the United States are exceeding over 30,000 people per year. Driver education, peer to peer communication, developing a learning mindset, and heeding the warnings of public service announcements are just a few of the activities I can do to make the roadways safer. These preventative measures could save my life and the lives of others, so we can avoid becoming just another statistic.