Name: Peyton Wimmer
From: BOZEMAN, MT
Votes: 0
The
Facts of Driving
Ding!
A text notification sounds from the phone sitting a foot away. For a
split second your eyes shift to allow you to speedily type. Quickly
flicking your eyes up, the taillights in front of you flash red.
Before you can react, the front of your car has crumpled into their
rear bumper. Almost every driver is guilty of taking their eyes off
the road, even for a fraction of a second. There have been times when
I have seen friends and family texting while driving, and in some
cases, they end in a crash. In America an average of 34,000 people
die each year in car accidents. With fatality rates this high there
is an apparent flaw in the current system of licensing drivers. In
many states it is not required to take a drivers ed class
in order to get your driver’s license, if someone meets the minimum
age and that they passed the driving test they can be licensed. This
could be a problem considering new, and inexperienced drivers make
the most mistakes. Their participation in Drivers ed courses
could lower the high amount of accidents and therefore deaths that
happen. By exposing new drivers to scenarios slowly and allowing them
to hear the real responsibilities of being a driver, there could be a
great reduction in the amount of accidents and consequently deaths.
According to Edger Snyder and associates, a personal injury law firm,
4.4 percent of 17-year-old drivers and 4.7 percent of 18-year-old
drivers were involved in crashes, which are the highest percentages
of any other age group. This would contribute to the amount of deaths
as well as accidents that occur yearly. So, what steps can be taken
to reduce this statistic?
One
thing that can be done is making drivers ed classes mandatory
for all drivers, as well as stressing the importance of being a
responsible driver. A good way to do this is to have guest speakers
such as police officers, as well as people who have lost family
members in car crashes come to classes and talk about their
experiences. It is one thing to learn about something but hearing
about an experience from someone firsthand is almost always more
effective. I can recall hearing from my parents to never drink and
drive, but it never really stuck until my parents told me stories
about good friends who were almost killed while drinking and
driving.
Another
thing that we can do to prevent car accidents and lower death rates
is to strive to be better drivers. We can do this by always
encouraging people to buckle up whether you are the one driving or
not. Another way to prevent accidents is by never driving under the
influence. If you or a friend are impaired it is best to call a taxi
or sober friend to drive than to put the lives of those in the car
and others on the road at risk.
