I was on a car ride home from the city
with my father. We were in the first lane of a two-lane highway. The
next couple seconds happened like a rapid movie sequence. We were
passing cars on the second lane, when suddenly, a minivan merging
onto the highway attempted to merge into our lane. Its huge frame
covered the view from our dashboard, and my father slammed on the
breaks. Our sedan skidded forward and shook violently– the minivan
was a moment’s breath in front of us. My father quickly angled the
wheels to the railing on the left and we averted collision.
Adrenaline rushed over me as I became filled with anger.



I was angry at my helplessness. As a
passenger, I was placed in a situation that I had absolutely no
control over. All I could do was watch as my life flashed before my
eyes. My father is an experienced driver who has been driving for
over 30 years, but even with his last-minute dexterity, we barely
escaped a deadly collision. Yet, many less experienced drivers are
threatened by reckless drivers on the road.



In the US, over 37,000 people die in road
crashes each year and an additional 2.35 million are injured or
disabled (ASIRT). These are staggering statistics; the opioid
epidemic killed nearly 100,000 people between 2006 and 2016, while
motor vehicle accidents caused 190,455 deaths in the same time frame
(Washington Post
2019). Clearly, these numbers are not tangible to the drivers who
speed, drink, and text on the road today.




Public communication must be heightened
to relay the immense responsibility of driving and the deep tragedy
of motor vehicle accidents. The current driving ads in the media are
not creating a strong enough impact on drivers. They seem moralizing
and relay obvious messages. Of course reckless driving endangers
lives. Of course we should not drink and drive. The message is
obvious to the head, but does not translate to action, because the
reality bypasses the heart of the viewer.




I believe we must take greater effort in
our visual communication. Nonprofits such as the AAA Foundation for
Traffic Safety and the Safe Roads Alliance could organize nationwide
film festivals. Esteemed documentarians would create and hold
showings of films related to themes of driving. One idea for a film
is to weave story and science together. Respected professors in
engineering and physics can describe the impact of rapidly-moving
vehicles when they collide with other vehicles on the road. The
science will be broken up by segments of various survivors sharing
their experiences from accidents, portraying the real loss that comes
with reckless driving. This viewing experience would not moralize,
but help the viewer realize the power one wields behind the wheel.




In our increasingly visual age, films
have the power to induce pathos and promote change. Public
communications can save thousands of lives by helping drivers grasp
the deadly epidemic of crash fatalities, which are all too easily
hidden in plain sight.





Sources:

Association for Safe International Road
Travel (ASIRT). https://www.asirt.org/safe-travel/road-safety-facts/





Halsey III, Ashley. “More Americans
have died in car crashes since 2000 than in both World Wars.” The
Washington Post. July 21,
2019.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/more-people-died-in-car-crashes-this-century-than-in-both-world-wars/2019/07/21/0ecc0006-3f54-11e9-9361-301ffb5bd5e6_story.html