Driving in 2020

On average 34,000 Americans die each year as a result of driving. To put that into perspective, the Korean war which lasted only 3 years had fewer fatalities than the amount of Americans that die each year due to driving. This shows us that a fundamental change needs to be made in not only how current drivers act on the road, but how we can educate newer generations in order to lower the curve on driving fatalities. I will be focusing on the latter. Driver education needs to focus not only on getting Americans on the road to drive but on how they need to react in the form of certain hazards on the road and to teach against inappropriate behaviors in regards to driving. It may seem like a good idea to reeducate longtime drivers on these ideas but that is impractical, and it would be better if we instilled these ideas in a newer generation so the future generation may learn by example.

Deaths among younger drivers for example can be reduced in many ways. We need to teach these newer drivers that they need to not only protect themselves while on the road, but only drive with others when they feel comfortable to do so. Sometimes due to peer pressure, drivers can be pressured into doing things they may not want to which could lead to injury or death. A lot of teenagers want to be seen as cool by their peers and may not realize what they’re doing is wrong until something really bad happens to them. I have been witness to not only my friends driving irresponsibly but members of my family and other people on the road as well. In trying to save a few seconds to get to a destination could be potentially dangerous and lead to accidents. Passengers are put into the position that they can’t say anything to the driver because often they are either disregarded as children or the driver just doesn’t care and is confident in their ability to drive, even though it puts other people in danger.

While I am not a driver now I believe that a good way to have people to change their ways is to not only show them the statistics and show how they’re likely to end up as a number if they don’t change their way, or to have a conversation with the driver at a later point and truthfully tell them how you feel. I feel like these ideas would be a good step in lowering driving fatalities in our country.