What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving?


INTRODUCTION
Driving is one of the most fundamental skills we learn in our society. Almost everybody in the United States is affected by driving in some way, shape, or form. Because it's such a crucial aspect in our culture, acquiring the skill to drive requires precision, consistency, and discipline.

Precision
When learning how to drive there is a general set of rules, but there also is some individualism within every car, road, and situation. Learning how to drive doesn’t stop at learning how to parallel park or how to drive in a straight line. It also comes with knowing how to adjust your mirrors for the specific vehicle, how sensitive is the vehicle’s acceleration, or how narrow is the road you’re driving on. Not being able to do these subtle but crucial things could possibly be life threatening. In order to properly test one’s precision, the driving test should implement more diversity within the vehicles and test itself. When taking the test the driver should not be able to choose the vehicle they drive in, they should be randomly assigned a vehicle. This would verify that the driver is capable of adapting to different vehicles which would attest for their skill to be precise with the function of a vehicle. A driver who is capable of adapting is a driver fit for the road in any circumstance. A number of deadly accidents could have been prevented if the driver was precise with their vehicle and how to operate that vehicle. The test should also provide more diversity with the driving conditions. When I took my test I took it in the DMV parking lot and a straight simple road. I stopped at three stop signs (one being inside the parking lot), and went through a few real challenges. I completed my test thinking “that's it”. Now that I've been driving for quite some time, I wish I would have been put in more difficult situations during the tests in order to prepare me for what the real roads would look and feel like. I've learned more from driving after I got my licenses than I learned in the process of getting my license.

Discipline
Driving isn’t a one time thing. You don’t get your license and stop implementing safety and responsibility. A lot of drivers, especially younger ones, lack discipline and will stop putting in effort to be a safe and responsible driver. When driving you have to always be on alert and effectively use your skills to drive safely and responsibility. I’ve been in the passenger seat multiple times while a teenager is driving and they will go 20 mph and 30 mph above the speed limit. I wish that was an exaggeration as much as my mom does, but it's the truth. There's a reason teenagers have higher insurance and it’s because they’re reckless. New drivers should have a speed tracker in their car for a designated amount of time to insure they are being safe and responsible. Over 25% of accidents are caused by speeding and the only way to bring that number down is to bring light to the situation and make sure people are disciplined and responsible.

Consistency
When you first learn to drive you have to take a test, but how do we know you continually are capable of the skills and continue to abide by the crucial rules. Drivers should have to take a competence test for driving laws and periodically have to take driving tests to ensure you are still capable of driving proficiently. Driving is a skill that requires a multitude of skills that are crucial to driving. Vision for example, is one of the most important skills when it comes to driving. Drivers should be tested for their vision to uphold the safety of our roads. Another example would be reaction and attention. This competence test should include vision, reaction speed, awareness, and other vital things that can decrease with age but are important for the safety of our roads.

Conclusion
After writing this I've found some kind of passion for the lack of driver safety. My mom is always on the road, my little siblings are always in the back seat. It’s not always about how you drive, arguably it is more about how everyone else drives. I learned how to drive responsibly because of my mom so i know she’s responsible, but It’s crucial to always be precise, disciplined, and consistent with how you drive because you never know how your mistake can affect everyone else’s life.