Humans are not perfect: we forget things and make mistakes. It is a fact of life that we all live with. These mistakes are sometimes minor, like adding too much of an ingredient to a recipe. However, mistakes on the road can prove deadly. Highway deaths for the past fifteen years have killed more people than World War II. Even my uncle has faced death with a hit-and-run accident on the highway. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce fatalities on the road through education, technologies and taking personal steps.
Reducing, nay preventing, vehicular deaths through education is paramount. Through drivers ed, drivers are schooled on major factors that have contributed to vehicular accidents and fatalities along with strategies and techniques for avoiding such incidents. For example, drivers are educated on distractions they may encounter and how these distractions contribute to incidences and ways of avoiding distractions. Maintaining adequate vehicle to vehicle distances is also important and necessary while driving over different types of roads and through different weather conditions. Keeping safe distances gives drivers the needed time to react to surprises, avoid accidents and possible fatalities within. With drivers ed, students can take the strategies learned and put them into action.
Advances in vehicle technologies over the last few decades have also led to a significant reduction in the number of deaths on the roads. Industry wide, automakers have taken steps to keep drivers and their occupants safe: from engineered crash crumple zones to improved seat belt designs and strategically placed airbags, along with smart sensors and software that not only assist drivers in staying in their lanes, but alerts drivers if their vehicle begins to veer off the intended lane. Some cars, like Teslas and Cadillacs, even drive themselves. Equally important is proper vehicle maintenance (e.g. tire inflation) and staying calm when other drivers perform terribly.
There are a plethora of steps I can take, as a driver, to be safe on the road and prevent accidents. I strongly believe that participating in a drivers ed course every few years or so can be helpful to me and others in the prevention of vehicular incidences. Another big step that I can take to be a safer driver is to continuously reduce or eliminate personal distractions to stay better focused on the road. For the most part, I am focused when driving. However, oncoming cars and some road irregularities grab my attention and pull my focus away from where my focus should remain. Getting ample amount of rest (bed time), staying hydrated, eating well and exercising are all important to staying alert and attentive on the road, as well.
In conclusion, with the ongoing studies of vehicular deaths surrounding their causations, drivers, through education, are better informed. Paired with an auto industry that continues to make technological progress, road fatalities will continue to decline. As time marches on and technology advances, future drivers will learn best practices to safe driving and cars will practically become tanks.