Your Ability to Save Lives

Driving is not something to be taken lightly. In 2019 alone, the CDC recorded motor vehicle casualties at 37,595. To put this in perspective, the National Archives records the number of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam war to be 58,220. This is only a difference of 20,625 deaths. Furthermore, U.S involvement in the war lasted more than 10 years, whereas this was only one year of motor accidents. If this trend in motor related fatalities continues, in 10 years around 375,950 Americans will have died from motor vehicle accidents. That is nearly six and a half times more casualties than that of the U.S. from the Vietnam war. This raises a pressing question: How do we save the lives of numerous Americans from motor vehicle accidents in the years to come?

One popular solution to this is driver education courses, also called driver’s ed. These courses typically come in packages of 3 to 4 lessons, which prepare students for the behind the wheel test. While these courses are usually expensive, they produce statistically better drivers. Leslie Reed, a student at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, highlighted this in her study titled “Driver’s ed significantly reduces teen crashes, tickets.” According to the study, of 151,800 teenage drivers “About 53 percent…took a state-approved driver’s education course…” Reed then compared the teens, who took the state-approved driver’s ed course, to those who instead chose 50 hours of supervised driving with a parent or adult. She concluded that 11.1% of the driver’s ed students were involved in crashes and 10.4% obtained tickets for traffic violations. Whereas, of the group who did not take the driver’s ed, 12.9% were involved in crashes and 18.3% were ticked for traffic violations. On a 100-base scale, this means that 11 teens compared to 13 were involved in crashes and 10 compared to 18, were ticketed for traffic violations. This is only one study, however, it did show nearly a 2% decrease in crashes and 8% decrease in traffic violations, from the driver’s ed students. Overall, it appears that driver’s ed courses do have a significantly positive result on driving performance.

Another solution, though it is extremely difficult to implement, is the stricter enforcement of teenage and adult misbehavior. The diverse worldviews people hold in America makes this extremely challenging. However, most people would probably agree that the safety of their children, themselves and others should be made a priority. If this is the case, parents should be willing to take adult action and ensure that their highschoolers are not engaging in harmful or risky behavior. From the stories that my co-workers and mutual friends tell me about, large quantities of alcohol and drugs are involved. They have told me that there was no parental supervision, or if there was, the parents simply did not care. This behavior is not only illegal, but incredibly dangerous and is statistically a leading cause of teenage driving accidents. The CDC reported, from data collected during 2019, that “…40% of motor vehicle crash deaths among teens aged 13–19 occurred between 9 pm and 6 am, and 52% occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.” This data can be clearly connected to the fact that this is prime party time for teens. To illustrate the negative impact of this behavior further, the CDC recorded that “…24% of drivers aged 15–20 who were killed in fatal motor vehicle crashes had been drinking.” While driver’s ed courses can advise youths to avoid this partying lifestyle and illegal behavior, they cannot enforce it. Therefore, it is up to parents and peers to ensure the safety of their children, friends, and anyone else on the road.

To reduce the number of motor vehicle collisions and deaths, a third solution is creating and rebuilding safer roadways and other means of public transportation. I believe this is the most effective and easiest solution to achieve as of today. The World Health Organization posted an article this June arguing for governmental action, worldwide, to make safety improvements to lower income areas. They stated that over 90% of motor vehicle accidents occur in lower income areas and countries. This is a depressing fact. The United States of America needs to take action and direct their funds to improving road safety and public transportation. Not only would they be creating safer roadways, but they would be reducing the amount of traffic on the road by use of trains and other public transports. This would certainly lead to a decrease in motor vehicle accidents and fatalities. Thankfully, President Biden introduced The American Jobs Plan earlier this year. While the plan has a broad scope of projects, the improvement of transportation infrastructure has the largest funding. It will pump nearly 600 billion dollars into creating safer roadways and more efficient forms of public transportation. This will ensure that neglected, lower income areas have safer roads, bridges and easier access to affordable public transportation. Not only will this create safer driving conditions nationwide, but it will encourage the use of trains, busses and other forms of public transport.

In conclusion, America needs to take these simple steps to save the lives of numerous people in the years to come. However, this is not only the government’s responsibility. While they need to take action, by funding the improvement of infrastructure and the requirement of a driver’s ed course in school again, we need to do our own part. It is our responsibility, as Americans, to ensure each other’s safety. We need to come together as a society, in order to encourage healthier behavior in our communities. By taking adult responsibility, we can ensure the safety of our children and anyone else on the road. Do not underestimate your ability to save lives.

Works Cited

“Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Plan.” The White House, The United States Government, 4 May

2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/.

“FastStats – Accidents or Unintentional Injuries.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/accidental-injury.htm.

“Road Traffic Injuries.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 21 June 2021,

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries.

“Study: Driver’s Ed Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets.” Study: Driver’s Ed

Significantly Reduces Teen Crashes, Tickets | Nebraska Today | University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 13 Aug. 2015, https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/study-driver-s-ed-significantly-reduces-teen-crashes-tickets/.

“Teen Drivers: Get the Facts.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention, 12 Oct. 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html.

“Vietnam War U.S. Military Fatal Casualty Statistics.” National Archives and Records

Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, https://www.archives.gov/research/military/vietnam-war/casualty-statistics.