Saving Lives on the Road One Step at a Time

With the importance that driving has in modern-day society, it is vital that drivers are well educated and know the responsibilities and dangers of driving. Each year, tens of thousands of people pass away due to car accidents. These people can be people that caused it due to poor decisions or driving mistakes, or people that were unfortunately at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Something that is very important and should be applied more in society is driver education. If driver education was more common and more drivers went through it before driving, the amount of deaths could be greatly reduced. If drivers are aware of some things that they can do in dangerous situations that are more common, it could help save lives. Additionally, driver education could inform drivers about the dangers of making common poor decisions such as texting and driving. Overall, driver education can help change people into better and safer drivers.

Additionally, some steps that can be taken by everybody in order to reduce the amount of deaths related to driving are essentially the ones that everybody hears all the time. Some examples of things that could be done are to not use electronic devices and drive. When people think of that, most people think of only texting and driving. However, the same could be said about calling and driving as well as listening to music while driving. Being on a phone call while one drives can be extremely distracting and can lead to serious accidents and deaths. Additionally, another big reason for which people go on their phones when they drive is to put music or change music. If drivers set a playlist before they begin driving and listen to it with a low volume, this could help save lives.

Another major factor that can come into play is technology on modern cars. Most newer cars have a screen console next to the driver. This is supposed to be there so that it reduces the amount that drivers go onto their phones, but instead it only adds another source of distraction. Drivers should learn to disregard those screens or even manufacturers should remove them in order to save lives. Another step that can be taken in order to save lives is for drivers to wear their seatbelts. Although this should be common sense and most people wear their seatbelts, a lot of people still don’t. If everybody made the habit of wearing their seatbelt, many lives would be saved in car accidents.

In addition to the previous steps that can be taken in order to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, another step that can be taken is to prepare and plan ahead. A common type of accident is drivers being under the influence. If people are planning on going out and going under the influence such as drinking alcohol, they should prepare by having a designated driver or getting a ride home from companies such as Uber or Lyft. If these precautions are taken, the amount of fatal car accidents could be greatly diminished.

One more step that could be taken is to service our automobiles. Some accidents happen because the vehicle was not properly serviced and therefore it broke down and an accident happened. If every driver makes sure that they properly service their vehicle and that the vehicle is in conditions to be on the road, it would greatly reduce the risk of accidents happening due to car malfunctions.

I have never been in a major car accident but I have witnessed one. One time I was driving to work on the freeway when on the other side (going the opposite way)one car suddenly veered from the rightmost lane all the way to the left lane and hit a car that was passing through. There were two things that impacted me the most. The first of these was how quickly everything happened. One second everything was perfectly fine and the next the car veered all the way to the other side and crashed into the oncoming car. The other thing that impacted me was the irrelevance of the car that was hit. The driver was simply minding their own business, doing nothing wrong, when they were suddenly hit very hard. This impacted me because it really is true that all drivers must always be completely focused on the road. One never knows when something can go wrong with someone else, and that is why we always have to be very focused and any distraction can be fatal.

The biggest things that I need to do in order to be a better driver are to reduce how much I am on my cellphone while I drive, how much I am on phone calls when I drive, how loud my music is when I drive, and to service my vehicle. I find that I am often on my phone because I am changing my music or answering a quick text saying I am on the way. Additionally, grabbing and going on my phone at stoplights distracts me and it is something that I need to stop immediately since my attention veers from the road and onto other things even though I am stopped. On top of that, I am often talking on the phone while I drive. Since it is “down time” in which I am not doing anything except driving, I find it relaxing to call my girlfriend and talk on the phone. I should cut this out immediately because I could cause an accident or be a victim of one since my attention is not 100% on the road. Second to last, I am a music fanatic, for which I almost always play my music at very high volumes. Although it is fun and may seem harmless, it is dangerous because it is distracting to myself and it can also make it so that I do not hear emergency vehicles. Lastly, I should be more careful with making sure my vehicle is serviced with things such as oil and good tires.

Overall, the biggest things we can do in order to save lives are to be informed and to cut out distractions. Although accidents can always happen and we can never really be 100% ready or prevent them at a complete status, it is all of our parts to do the best we can to keep safe roads and make sure everybody makes it home safely at the end of the day.