A Comprehensive Solution to Unsafe Driving

DMV
Scholarship Essay

As
someone who aspires to be a statistician, the most important
consideration is control for every variable that could impact a
prospective experiment. This is why my proposition to reduce
driving-related deaths includes multiple parts, all integral to
reducing driving deaths, that target different causes of crashes.
While not a perfect solution, I propose that local, state, and
federal governments should work together to tighten enforcement,
install ignition interlock devices, and make rideshare and towing
services more available.

The
first initiative should be to reduce the leniency of our enforcement
of laws. In 15 states, failing to wear a seatbelt is a secondary
offense, meaning that they cannot be ticketed for that independently.
Firstly, this has directly increased deaths by allowing people that
do not wear seatbelts to drive undisciplined. Secondly, this
increases deaths by sending a signal that law enforcement is soft and
unwilling to punish people, incentivizing reckless driving because
there is little fear of punishment. The leniency of enforcement has
been a key component of rising death rates, and a strict enforcement
of laws will reverse this trend. Additionally, there should be more
state funding for law enforcement, as experts have linked lenient
enforcement to budget cuts that have reduced staff.

Although
the first initiative is important, a comprehensive approach is
necessary. The second initiative should be to install ignition
interlocks, a device connected to cars to measure the amount of
alcohol in someone’s breath, in all new cars. The device requires a
breath into it to allow the driver to start the car, and if a blood
alcohol level is too high, the car will not start. A 2015 study found
that installing these devices in cars could prevent 85 percent of
alcohol-related deaths, which make up a large portion of automobile
deaths. Taking this initiative would save thousands of lives in one
year alone.

Even
when an individual is sober, it’s possible they could make the poor
decision to drive when tired or distracted, which is why the third
initiative of making services like Uber, Lyft, and other rideshare
services and towing services more available and cheaper, perhaps by
either making these services public or allowing drivers to bid on
customers for the lowest price, incentivizing them to lower costs. By
offering a cheap and convenient option, drivers are less likely to
make the decision to drive when they shouldn’t. Making these
services less costly, more convenient, and abundant will surely take
a bite out of the automobile death rate.

I’ve
chosen my career path for the same reason many choose theirs: to
fight injustice. I have chosen to do experiments and propose
solutions because I would like to prevent the injustice of people
having their futures snatched from them in preventable accidents. And
though these initiatives take lots of effort and money to carry out,
if done correctly and completely, they’ll save thousands of people
each year. Bad driving poses a threat to everyone, and I hope that
others join my fight against injustice.