How to make the road a safer place

With over 30,000 American people dying each year due to driving-related accidents, the importance of safe driving practices is growing. This amount of deaths is a lot more than the American casualties of wars such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The difference is that the U.S soldiers go through intense training and learn how to be a soldier for years, while students are taught for a few months then told to practice. As most things are in life, the more you train/practice for something, the mistakes you make decrease. This is why driver education is incredibly important in reducing the number of deaths resulting from driving, as well as the practice the students do. To reduce the number of deaths, the most common causes of the deaths should be identified. For example, texting while driving, speeding, passenger distraction, etc. Then the most common causes should be shown to Driver’s Ed students and the students should be taught how to avoid being in those situations. It should also be reinforced that they can cause an accident for anyone; no matter the experience they have driving or the fact that they’ve never had a ticket or accident before, because disasters happen when people get too comfortable/confident on the road. I have never experienced being in an accident myself, but I have seen times where friends, family and I have driven irresponsibly or gotten close to an accident. To avoid this and become a safer driver, it’s important to recognize when you or others with you begin driving irresponsibly and take action. One night when I was driving through my neighborhood, I took a second to look down and change the song on my phone, then I looked back up and I was already going on the other side of the road a little bit. This made me realize it only takes a couple seconds of not focusing on the road to lose control of the car. Especially because it was dark, there could have a been a car parked on the road ahead or even someone on a walk that I would be endangering. I took action by only changing songs when stopped at a light, and by getting the “next” button to show up on the screen in my car so I don’t have to look down at my phone for anything. I have seen friends reading texts or other phone notifications while driving before, and I have always told myself to avoid that because losing focus on the road long enough to read something is very dangerous. There is no need to read the notification the second you get it while driving, and if it was something you absolutely need to know at that moment, the person contacting you would certainly call you rather than text. A very important step to take in becoming a safer driver is helping others realize they are driving unsafely and to give advice to friends and family if you have experienced something similar yourself. Improving your own safety while driving is most important, but sometimes accidents are caused completely by another person out of your control, so helping others improve their safety should also be important.