Making Safer Roads

Making Safer Roads

You remember it vividly. The crash, the sirens. The pain. He had run into your car head-on, at full speed. If that other driver had been just a little more attentive, you wouldn’t need all these surgeries and painkillers. If he had only been facing forward instead of looking at a notification, he would have noticed your car and would not have hit you. If his music hadn’t been blaring at full volume, he would have heard the deafening sound of your horn. If he had been going just a little slower, you would have been able to move your car out of his car’s ballistic trajectory. None of that matters now, however. At least you aren’t dead.

In an era in which thousands of people die each year due to car crashes, Driver’s Education is becoming an incredibly potent and important tool, as it teaches drivers the correct way to behave on the road. While driving, the largest problem that drivers must face is the fact that humans are sometimes unable to correctly judge measures. According to the knowledgeable expert David Shinar, at least ninety percent of crashes are caused by some sort of threshold bias. A threshold bias is, in this context, an error in estimating distance, timing, or speed. While these apparently minor deviations might be harmless in other parts of life, it can prove deadly on the road. To get rid of these untimely car crashes, therefore, significant value must be placed in appropriate education for safe driving.

The content which must be studied in Driver’s Ed includes two things. While the first item, correct handling and steering of a car, is important, the equally important second item is awareness. Drivers must be made aware of the fact that there are hundreds of other cars around them which may swerve and crash at any moment. They must be taught to notice anomalies and avoid potential crashes, and drivers must be able to continue driving safely even when distracted by events such as conversation or emergencies.

Just outside Driver’s Ed, more steps can be found which may be taken to further one’s protection against car crashes. For instance, recognizing the needs of your car and your environment can significantly reduce crashes. One example of this is how cars ought to have chains when driving through the snow to increase grip. Drivers also need to be aware of ice, as they must drive differently on ice to prevent slipping. Similarly, tires are more slippery in rainy weather, causing drivers to have to drive more slowly and brake over longer distances.

You can prevent others from crashing as well. By being aware of your surroundings, you can identify dangerous roadside hazards such as broken stoplights and drunken drivers. Reporting these to the appropriate officials can cause an immense decrease in the rates of traffic collisions. Your local city officials are very helpful here. By informing the city that they need to place stop signs and speed bumps, you can protect yourself and those around you immensely. In places from neighborhoods to freeways, the installation of appropriate traffic signage can prevent a wide variety of harmful traffic altercations, from speeding in residential areas to high-speed crashes on roadways.

Though I have never been in any major traffic collision myself, I have read about a number of major catastrophes online and on the news. As a result, I am always aware of the dangers we face on the road and am constantly trying to learn how to be a better, safer driver. I have thus learned about a number of measures which I can take to better my own driving. One of the things I focus most on is behavior. According to scientists such as David Shinar, a majority of collisions are caused by people misjudging events. Therefore, by learning to better predict people’s plans and to anticipate their actions, I ought to be able to make my driving a lot more secure. Furthermore, I also ensure that my own behavior is appropriate. By using turn signals and headlights appropriately, I am able to ensure that others are aware of the actions I intend to take. Keeping others aware helps keep both myself and others safe, by preventing the possibility that others have a trajectory which intersects with mine.

In the end, traffic accidents will continue to occur, and irresponsible drivers will never cease to exist. However, the roads we drive do not have to be so inhospitable. By reporting roadside hazards, learning about safe driving practices, and maintaining situational awareness, you can make safer choices. By doing so, you will help protect yourself and your friends, family, and children from that danger which is present on the roads.

References

Shinar, D. (2019). Crash causes, countermeasures, and safety policy implications. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 125, 224-231. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001457518312028