Safety on the Road

Driving, so dangerous and yet nearly everyone does it every day. Since we do it so often, it may be forgotten or lost on us just how truly life threatening driving can be. In the United States alone, an average of 34,000 people per year die as a result of driving, many of which could most likely have been avoided were people more educated on driver safety. One of the main culprits of causing distracting drivers is smart phones and other devices. Say you’re driving, going 50 miles per hour and you get a text or decide you want to change the song you’re listening to. “It’ll only take one second” you think to yourself. Well, in that one second you aren’t looking at the road, you’ve travelled a little over 73 feet. That’s a lot of distance to cover going that fast without looking. We often don’t realize just how fast we are going or how much distance we’re covering while driving. Even if it’s “just one second” there’s so much that could happen in that single second that could change your or someone else’s life forever. Another culprit is, of course, drunk driving. While there is never any excuse to get behind the wheel while intoxicated, there is especially no excuse nowadays with Uber and Lyft and virtually everyone having a cell phone. Call a friend, call an Uber, do anything but drive yourself, it’s never worth the risk of killing someone else or yourself.

Some steps that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths caused by driving is some self control on the populations part in putting down our phones while driving. We as individuals need to do better at not letting our devices get the better of us and distract us while on the roads. Phone companies are making it easier by adding updates to not allow notifications to come through while driving. Another step is to lessen the number of drunk drivers, which would also take a lot of self control on the populations part. There are a multitude of resources to turn to if you’ve had too much to drink and need to get home, there’s never an excuse to drive intoxicated. Finally, something that could help make the roads safer is to make the driving test more difficult to pass. While this may sound controversial, it may truly help to make young, inexperienced drivers more safe when entering the roads for the first time. Or, perhaps instead of a pass fail system, instructors could teach drivers defensive driving skills and situational awareness. Maybe, driving lessons could become mandatory in order to get a license, as if instead of just failing someone for not passing the test, they could be corrected and taught how do drive correctly and safely, not just for themselves, but for the benefit of others on the roads as well.

I myself have been in a minor accident which didn’t cause any long lasting damage, but definitely shook me up. I had a green left turn arrow and someone ran a red light and I ended up hitting them. No one was hurt, but it did scare me initially as I was unsure of what to do. While nothing bad happened this time, this persons irresponsibility in running the light could’ve caused long lasting damage, for themselves or me. I’ve also been in scenarios in which my friends have been driving irresponsibly, whether they’re going too fast, looking at their phone, or just not paying attention. I try to make them aware if they’re driving irresponsibly and have things they could correct. I also ask my friends to help correct my driving to make sure I’m not being unsafe. It may seem “lame” but there’s nothing wrong with keeping friends in check while driving, it could potentially save their life.

Some steps I could take to be a safer driver is to be less distracted by my phone, as I too am a culprit of that dangerous act. I’m trying very hard to get better at not looking at my phone at all, but I’ve still got some work to do. I don’t answer texts while driving, I mores tend to change my music while driving, which is just as distracting. That is why I’ve started to queue my music beforehand, so I won’t even have sorry about changing it while on the road. Another thing I could work on is just zoning out occasionally. When I drive for longer distances, sometimes I just end up zoning out, going through all the motions, but not being fully conscious of what I’m doing. One of the biggest things I and others could do to make the roads safer is to better their driving skills. If everyone in the world were to ensure that they’re driving safely, then there wouldn’t be any cause for concern. Making sure you’re being safe is the most impactful thing you can do for others, as well as yourself. The amount of deaths per year caused by driving is much too high. Something that is so commonplace is modern society needs to be much safer that it is currently. One of the first steps you can take is to start with yourself, as if you’re safe, you’re not causing any danger around you.