Living to Drive, Driving to Live

My dad is a busy man, or at least that’s the excuse he gives for texting while he drives. Everywhere we go he has the steering wheel in one hand and his phone in the other. He knows it is unsafe, especially when I tell him that I feel unsafe, but nonetheless texting remains a priority over his life. I was so thankful when I finally got my drivers license because I could finally be the one in charge of my own safety and not have to gamble my life every time my dad drives me somewhere.

The only way to overcome the epidemic of irresponsible driving is through driver education. I remember when I was getting my permit, that I was required to watch a video of a kid who was texting and driving and how they got in a crash and it “changed” their life. They were left with a terrible brain injury. I knew texting and driving was bad, but this video really scared me straight, as of now, I have never texted while I was driving. While fear tactics are not the best way to change individuals’ habits, it is effective and necessary when tens of thousands of lives are on the line.

It is easy to say “Do not drive while you are distracted”, but solving the problem of dangerous driving is much more complex than that.

New technology is an important factor in the number of deaths related to driving, after all texting and driving is due to technological innovation. Some new innovations that have made driving more dangerous include heavier cars, higher speeds, greater acceleration, flawed self-driving, and hands free technology. Not all technology has negative effects on safe driving, various technological evolutions have actually made cars significantly safer. Everything from airbags, anti lock brakes, traction control, shatter resistant glass, improved seatbelts, stability control, blindspot prevention, to speech-to-text messaging and smarter phones that prevent usage while moving at high speeds all make cars safer for people inside and outside of the vehicle. Technology and its development can become even more effective with sufficient funding from the public and action from the appropriate government agencies. Technology is not a purely negative factor when it comes to driving related deaths, and is not the only way to lower these deaths.

Pedestrian death is another area of driving deaths that can easily be prevented. American society is extremely car dependent, which is bad news for pedestrian safety or just anyone who wants to walk anywhere. In some parts of the country it is impossible or just too dangerous to walk from one place to another within a close distance due to lack of sidewalks, high speed traffic, huge highways splitting the landscape, and dangerous intersections, all of which put pedestrians in unnecessarily dangerous situations. These dangerous circumstances can be easily circumvented by putting some more thought into city planning. Some improved city planning efforts include distancing sidewalks from streets, increasing public transportation, more sidewalks, reworking the street traffic in highly populated pedestrian areas like shopping centers, and various other creative solutions.

City planning can also reduce driving related deaths without a focus on pedestrians by making roads safer. Roads can be made safer by making them well thought out and cared for and applying reasonable speed limits and speed enforcements.

After all these solutions are said and done, the one most important and practical solution comes back to driver education. An educated driver is a safe driver, therefore we should educate drivers more, and this can be done many ways. One way that education can be increased is by raising the bar for the education that people get when first attaining their license by introducing a federally-regulated limit to driver education. Increasing the education that new drivers get will ensure that the new generation of drivers will be significantly safer. Additionally, driving courses focused on safe driving can be further incentivised by issuing a tax or insurance cut for the student. Together we can educate the population and make getting from one place to another significantly safer.

My goal in life is to become an engineer specializing in computer programming. I hope to work on electric vehicles and use my coding skills to make them more efficient and safer.

New technology, improved city planning, and increased driver education are the best ways to minimize driving related deaths in the US. But all of these are not solely the government’s responsibility, citizens can help by volunteering for city projects, supporting new technology and fundraisers, and ensuring that they and their family are highly educated in the practices of safe driving. It takes a community to fix a community.