One by One We Can Make a Difference

I
waited until I was 17 years old to drive… and no that was not based
on pure laziness or a lack of craving for the freedom that comes with
being able to travel basically anywhere you want. It was based solely
on fear. Fear of being involved in a dangerous car accident. Be it my
fault or someone else’s, I did not trust the drivers on the United
States Roads. I eventually got my license and they are not kidding
when they say freedom! I have however had some close calls, both of
my own fault and the fault of other drivers, that leave me (someone
with anxiety) shaking and wondering how I could do better. But I try
every day to be as safe as possible and not contribute to a
statistic.

In
my home town of Glenwood Iowa, youths are required to take drivers
education before they receive a driver’s license. I think this is
one of many steps possible to ensure we have more educated drivers on
the road. More educated drivers means more people aware of what’s
expected of them, and less accidents just based on the lack of
knowledge. Even still, my now fiance who grew up in Glenwood and
passed drivers ed (maybe by the skin of his teeth) didn’t know
right turns are allowed where not stated otherwise, and he still has
trouble knowing who has the right of way!

Therefore
I believe one way to ensure drivers are more educated, and avoiding
accidents due to a lack of knowledge, is a retest at certain
intervals. This could also help sooner find seniors who have become
too visually, metally, or physically impared to drive before they
cause an accident. When I was in 6th grade I unfortunately witnessed
a fellow Safety Patrol member get hit by a car while helping some
fellow students cross the street. She was not hurt more than a couple
stitches and a mild concussion, however her injuries were a result of
a failure in the system. A failure very apparent to all onlookers
when out of the car climbed a 4’10’’, whitehaired and frail old
woman. She was obviously nearly blind and very confused. Maybe my
friend wouldn’t have been hurt and experienced something so scary
if someone had checked on that older woman and her driving abilities.

I
unfortunately do not believe that education is enough. You can know
every law in the book, for most the decision to follow them, are
closely tied to your level of accountability. So my other idea for a
solution is more closely tracking drivers. With modern technology, it
would be easy and cheap to monitor reckless driving. Our cars could
track, our speed, fast lane changes, use of turning indicators, if we
are wearing our seatbelts, blood alcohol content, and the list goes
on and on. Most of us also have It would require minimal technology
to make our roads safer and make the impossibly large jobs of police
men so much easier.

The
problem that comes with making these changes is getting people on
board. People do not want to retake a test and they certainly do not
want to be held accountable for their actions. So for now the only
thing we can be sure of is taking it into our own hands. Be the most
aware driver you can, never drive under the influence or impared, go
the speed limit, put your dang phone down, follow all the rules of
the road no matter how silly and inconvenient you think they are, and
finally… ask your loved ones to do the same. Nothing will change
unless the conversation is opened up and one by one people decide to
modify their behavior.