Driving Toward a Safer Future

All it takes is one accident to change the course of one’s life forever. Driving is one of the most dangerous things to do, and can be even more dangerous if you’re not careful, safe, and defensive. According to the DMV, an average of 34,000 Americans die each year as a result of driving. This is more people than the total number of American soldiers who have died from war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. These numbers are staggering, and can feel scary when looking at them from the rearview. Though, these numbers do not have to be a constant. There are steps we can take to cut down on vehicle fatalities, and look toward a better tomorrow.

Unquestionably, driver safety is one of the most effective measures in reducing vehicle related deaths and accidents. For most people, they take the drivers safety course, pass the exam, complete their hours and final test, and never think about the rules of the road again. You might be surprised at how a refresher or a review of the rules of the road can dramatically benefit your driving. It’s easy to forget some of the more minute or seemingly insignificant details of drivers safety, and an opportunity to reignite your brain might prove to be more effective than not. Car accidents, while common, can be avoided. Educating drivers and encouraging them to take advantage of informative resources is just one of many tools to use to combat this very potent accident epidemic.

Additionally, bringing awareness to the casualties caused by vehicle accidents might make people more cautious and defensive while driving. Our society does a poor job of conveying the gravity of this situation at times, and it can be easy to see why there continues to be such a wide swath of vehicle related accidents and deaths annually. Nobody is more affected by this than our youth. Teens and young people are some of the most highly influenced demographics. Instead of promoting super cars with top speeds and reckless driving through our entertainment, perhaps we include more advertisements and infomercials detailing the urgency of the situation. We have made it too easy to be unsafe while driving, and the numbers reflect that. Recent legislation in many states has outlawed the use of texting and using handheld cellular devices while behind the wheel, and it still seems to not be enough. Politics is always downstream of culture, meaning, if we seek to see a decrease in vehicle related accidents, we must first disincentivize the actions and decisions that have led to such fatalities in the first place. Though legislation is good, there must be more that we, the common citizen can do without relying on legislators in Washington. Campaigns to encourage students and teens to stay off their phones while behind the wheel could prove to be effective. Perhaps survivors of otherwise fatal car accidents informing drivers of the dangers of distracted driving may prove to help reduce further crashes. High schools benefit a great deal when the conversations revolving around the campus include positive topics. Ad campaigns around schools to reduce the number of distracted drivers could move the ball in the right direction regarding the aforementioned. Hypothetically speaking, if young people were engaging in dialogue about the dangers of distracted driving, and were always thinking of the problems associated with it, they would be more inclined to practice safe driving whenever they get in a vehicle.

Although it is easy to get caught up in the drama and the statistics of the matter, the gravity of the situation cannot be properly conveyed to the population until they experience it for the first time. Fortunately, I have never had to go through the heart wrenching trauma of losing a close friend or family member to a car accident. However, a student at my high school unfortunately went through just that during my freshman year. One Saturday night, he and a few friends were out partying. Intoxicated and under the influence, he decided to drive his three friends home from the party. As they raced down the freeway, the car began veering off the road and crashed into a light post. All three of his friends were killed on impact…he survived. The pain and regret he must have felt and still feels is more than I can imagine ever having to bear. To know that you were not only participating in things you should not have, but also that you were responsible for your three friends’ deaths would mess you up, would it not? Sometimes, all it takes is one tragic accident to open your eyes to the realities of the world. Oftentimes, we cannot wrap our heads around the complexities of our actions, and that everything we do has consequences, good and bad.

Despite the tragedies and hurt relating to vehicle accidents, these figures are not final, nor absolute. The change starts with us. There must always be a generation willing to take a stand against the norm, those who are bold enough to break the chain and end the cycle. Allowing yourself to be reeducated on driver safety and keeping up with the rules of the road will ensure you always remember them while driving. Advocating for safe driving campaigns, programs, and demonstrations in our schools will also do a great deal to cut down on the dangerous driving epidemic facing our nation. In everything, there is a lesson to be learned. Perhaps we will wake up, open our eyes to some of the tragic, yet preventable accidents we face every single day. Vehicle related accidents have become an almost normal occurrence in the American story, allow us to see what might happen if we rewrote the book.