The automobile is one of the most dangerous tools to ever be invented with it being responsible for one of the highest death totals in the United States. I always wondered why driving was considered so dangerous? After I became a licensed driver, I became the “defensive driver” that I had been taught to be while on the road. If a young adult that has just started driving can drive, stay focused and not get into trouble, why can't the general population of drivers that have been driving for longer do it better? In this paper, I will be looking at some of the leading causes of crash related deaths in the United States, and what we can do as the future generation of the country to combat these issues in hopes to lowering this count.
When it comes to the process of how someone gets their license to drive, we need to go back to the where it all starts, getting the permit. In the state of Florida, to get the permit, you must pass a road safety test as well as a drug education course. This is the first part of educating the young driver on the rules of the road and just how dangerous drugs and alcohol can be while under the influence. But what is the importance of driver education when it comes to reducing the number of deaths due to driving? This is a simple question to answer. Educating young drivers is crucial to lowering the number of deaths related to driving. In simple terms, if the driver doesn’t know the rules of the road, or maybe they don’t know the consequences of driving under the influence, then they would have an elevated risk of something happening to them while driving. In other words, if they don’t know the rules of the road, how are they supposed to follow the rules of the road? You see where I am going with this? The future generation of young drivers is where the change must start. With this in mind, what steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving going into the future?
The steps that can be taken to better the future of drivers and rid the future of the ridiculous number of deaths related to driving starts with the educational process. There needs to be a way the rules of the road can be instilled in the actual driver, and not just the young driver’s parents. Let’s be honest, the parents take the online course for the kids. The change should start with how the course is administered. I think there needs to be classes in school that teach the freshman or sophomores in high school the rules of the road and make it mandatory in order to drive. Instead of having it online, a real in-person classroom setting would benefit the students since they would have the teacher and/or support staff to help guide them in the rules of the road and common mistakes made by new drivers. Being a class worked into their school year, it would be graded as such and would be more beneficial to the student in the long run. This leads to the golden question, if the student doesn’t know the rules of the road, how are they supposed to follow the rules of the road? I have seen this firsthand with some of the friends that are close to me.
Growing up in Florida, you see a large number of car accidents or incidents on the road that have bad endings from tickets to fatal crashes, all of which can be avoided. Being a 17 year old, I have witnessed some of my friends driving while on their phone. Even at a younger age, I could tell the phone usage was an issue due to the commercials I was watching. While in elementary school there was an AT&T commercial that would tell you to “never text and drive, it can wait.” I had told this to the bus driver who would drive me and a couple of students to the aftercare program we would go to, and this led to a safer driver being put in the driver's seat which was the lady that ran the program. The issue doesn’t stop with phone use, here in Florida we are known as a big party state. Many times, you can see someone late at night, walking on the white and yellow lines getting a test for a DUI. Driving under the influence is something that has not affected myself as much, but has left some imprints on others in ways you would never imagine. But there is a solution to all of this, there is a way that we can stop or bring this issue down.
You may be asking what steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as influence others while on the road? This is a simple fix; we have to be the change we wish to see. Any time we are a passenger in a car, we need to be aware of the driver’s focus and driving competence. If he or she appears impaired, unfocused, or easily distracted, we should take matters in our own hands and hop in the driver seat and show them the proper way to operate behind the wheel. Just by showing someone the best and safest way to drive a motor vehicle can save lives. This is something everyone can do just by starting with the place we reside, no matter the city or state, we can help bring that United States Highway fatalities number down, one driver at a time.