Let’s Educate to Save Lives

Let’s
Educate To Save Lives

According
to the CDC, more than 90 people die in car accidents every day. In
school, students mostly learn about the dangers of driving under the
influence. That is very important, but there are still many
preventable accidents that don’t involve substances. Why don’t
students learn as much about these, too? There are many causes of car
accidents other than drugs and alcohol such as speeding, texting, and
being distracted by passengers. It is extremely important to learn
about all causes of accidents, because many are caused by things we
sometimes aren’t even aware of. 

A
simple Google search showed me some surprising statistics: 1 in 7
people do not wear a seatbelt while driving, which increases risk of
serious injury by 50%. Speeding is the second largest cause of deaths
in car accidents. Using a phone while driving decreases the amount of
brain activity used for driving by 37%.

These
statistics are shocking. If students learned a little more about
every day driving and accident prevention, the amount of accidents
and deaths might begin to decrease. For example, many of my peers
believe that using a cell phone while driving simply takes skill at
multitasking. In reality, the human brain is not equipped to handle a
task like driving while doing something else, and it is much more
likely that an accident will occur.

Spreading
the lesser known facts will help younger people to understand how
even the smallest diversion can increase their risk of an accident
and death.  I’ve seen many of my friends and even family members
becoming distracted while driving. One easy step everyone can take
to reduce risk of car accident deaths is to simply make sure everyone
in the car has their seatbelt on. You never know what may happen, and
the seatbelt can easily save a life.  Also, using ‘do not
disturb’ on your phone while driving decreases risk of getting
distracted by notifications and keeps the brain focused. 

The
best we can do as a community to reduce car accidents is to educate
each other, stay focused while driving, fasten our seatbelts, drive
sober, and encourage others to do the same. If we all make a
conscious effort to improve our driving safety, we can lower the
rates of car accidents and related deaths across the country.