The reason driver education is so important, especially around number of deaths is because of just how hard it is to not get desensitized. I’ll elaborate. When you first start driving and hit 60 mph for the first time, it’s scary for most people. You might be thinking, wow what happens if I crash going this fast? Or something akin to is it okay for me to even be driving this fast? How can I react to other cars driving to me at this speed? Then 6 months go by, and you’ve become confident in your driving ability. 1 year goes by, you feel really safe in your car and a false sense of security falls on you. You’ve forgotten just how fast 60 mph is and forgotten the sense of danger of what can happen to you when driving at such speeds. This false sense of security leads to checking your phone to change a song, respond to a text, looking off to your left for the pretty scenery.
It’s difficult to keep people from being desensitized. I’ve had my license for about 7 months, and I’m already desensitized. No wonder people who have been on the road for 20+ years are desensitized. Especially if they’ve never been in a collision. I’m sure there are things to be learned from such drivers however, I’m certain they have bad habits from the false sense of security they’ve developed of “being a good driver”. The best way I tend to ground myself is to watch videos on YouTube where just 1-2 seconds can change someone’s life forever. Just 1 mistake of letting your attention drift and it is changing your life or someone else’s is terrifying. Another Idea I have is to have people who’ve suffered from bad collisions be a guest speaker. It’s one thing to be told from my driving instructor when I’m learning, then someone who’s suffered themselves. This isn’t to say driving instructor’s cant convey serious topics. It just can’t match up to someone who’s explained how their own entire life or parts of their lives were messed up or altered due to their own or someone else’s complacency.
I haven’t been in a car accident, but I do have family that’s been in an accident. When my mom was younger she was in a car accident. Her and her friends were leaving a party. While being a passenger, the driver was driving on a gravel curved S curve. He breaked poorly, skidding into a tree. From the whiplash my mom went forward hitting the drivers side seat. Then she flew back into the back seat and passed out. She ended up suffering from fractured ribs. She says that afterwards she always wore her seatbelt when driving and being a passenger. Though she was in rehab for a while and didn’t want to get in cars for quite some time after the accident. I also have friends who constantly check their phone for messages or even scroll through twitter sometimes. I genuinely do not feel safe in the car when they are driving and must ask them to stop. It’s very difficult to say to your friends however, someone neds to let them know how bad it is. It’s only a matter of time before something happens, hopefully it will be a small collision that doesn’t harm anyone. That way it’ll be a wake-up call. On the other hand, terrible things can happen when you’re checking your phone so often. I see lot’s of Ads on YouTube to deter texting and driving, hopefully we can get more of them to help keep people focused on the road.
The best steps I take to be a better and safer driver is to watch videos online about the real-world ramifications if I let my attention slip. I also make sure to drive with 2 car lengths behind someone if possible at the time. The reason I do this is because it allows for more time to react to dangers in front of me. As for helping others drive safely it’s more difficult to approach because you don’t want to insults someone’s ability to drive. The most I’ve found myself doing is to try and keep an eye on the road when talking with the driver with out being obvious. If they miss something dangerous, then I bring it up. As long as it’s not something major then I usually don’t mention it.