The Best Prevention is Education

Transportation
is intrinsically tied to our experience of life here in the United
States. Unlike other states in the world, who offer a wealth of
opportunities for public transportation, America largely focuses upon
personal transportation. Car advertisements litter our magazines and
websites, the need for petrol fuels our wars, highways criss-cross
our rolling hills, and every person from about the age of sixteen up
to their sixties (varying from state to state) is capable of driving
without intensive training — and therein lies the issue.

Far
too many times have I watched folks around me, such as the parents
who tutored me in how to drive or the motorists on my campus,
recklessly cross into the opposing lane whilst turning when no one
was there, neglect to use their turn signals, or slowly roll past a
stop sign without stopping. There are popular discussion posts and
articles, sharing dash cam footage of terribly foolish drivers who
unfortunately caused crashes or commiserating on the ‘stupidity’ of
other drivers, all of which indicate that the experience of
interacting with unskilled drivers is entirely too common.

Drivers
must renew their licenses every few years, varying from state to
state, with many of the elderly needing to prove their physical
viability, but hardly do folks ever revisit their traffic laws unless
they have been caught and ticketed. When first learning how to drive,
I often was caught in fright whilst my father drove me and criticized
his lack of concern for turn signals and rolling stops, which he
always waved away with a mention of how he’d been ‘driving for many,
many years now.’ Misplaced confidence often comes as a result of not
having the sharp reality of driving with little concern recently
pressed.

This
is human nature incarnate, to be warned and have that concern wane
with the years. Renewing knowledge of safety laws, the consequences
of driving poorly, and having its importance impressed upon is key to
reducing traffic accidents. I propose that whenever folks are
required to renew their licenses, they must also take a brief quiz on
basic traffic laws and read an excerpt on the statistics of
distracted or influenced driving before they are able to properly
renew. In Pennsylvania, for instance, teenagers must take a very
similar test before beginning their road to being licensed.

By
and far, until legislation like this can be implemented, it is best
to have the confidence to not only practice safe driving, as one
would when they were freshly educated, but to demand that others do
as well by calling out their reckless behavior and making a point to
ensure that they understand that they endanger not only themselves,
but also others as well.