In the United States, driving has become a central aspect of every citizen’s lifestyle. From the cultural significance of receiving one’s license and first car at age 16 to the urban planning of cities making every place a driving distance away, driving a car is a necessary aspect of living comfortably in the US. To obtain the driver’s license, one must undergo the necessary steps of taking a course in road rules and spending at least 50 hours on the road, along with tests to certify a safe level of both conceptual knowledge and practical skill of driving. This driver education course and the tests are fundamental to reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving since they ensure that a driver will remain conscious of the nuances of road rules. Although the most basic road rules are intuitive and can be learned from observation in the passenger seat, some concepts such as right of way require additional training to fully comprehend and remain aware of the concept. Additionally, driver education courses are necessary to make new drivers aware of specificities in the laws related to driving, specifically with consequences associated with the severity of breaking different road rules such as passing red lights, making a wrong turn, or even driving under the influence. By educating the new driver on specific consequences for breaking the law, the course can serve as a multifaceted motivation for the driver to drive safely and avoid inadvertently causing a death on the road.
In addition to taking the course and practicing driving to obtain the license, some measures that can also be implemented are periodic renewals of the license every 10 years. The process of a renewal can involve either re-taking the driver’s education course or the road test every few years to ensure that they remain mindful of the road laws as they continue to drive. As a driver spends more years on the road and becomes more experienced, their complacency on the road becomes a real possibility. For example, they may begin to speed more often, which will in turn greatly increase the risk of a fatal accident when they may not be able to slow down enough in time to a sudden change in their environment. As a result, re-taking the test will remind them to remain vigilant of their speed to react accordingly to their environment. Additionally, renewal of drivers license tests can help identify issues with vision and hearing, especially in aging populations, that need to be addressed to ensure all drivers are safe on the road. Significant reductions in physical aptitude can greatly hamper one’s ability to register their surroundings, thus they may cause more accidents due to their inability to react accordingly to those around them. Since driving tests typically involve a brief vision test and hearing test, re-taking these assessments can help bring these issues to light to the right people who can provide accommodations for a driver to continue driving safely. Furthermore, greater enforcement of speed limits on the road can lower the risk of fatal accidents that occur on the road. For example, Florida is notorious for drivers who regularly travel well above the posted speed limits. While measures such as roadside speedometers and fines are in place to reduce this issue, speeding is still considered a norm when driving. By enforcing speed limits more heavily and ensuring that more speeding drivers face consequences, law enforcement can ensure that more drivers are making safe choices on the road and thus reduce one major cause of deaths related to driving.
In the past, I have experienced multiple instances of rash driving and even mild car accidents while on the road. For example, when I was around nine years old, my mom was driving me to a friend’s house when we got rear-ended while attempting to exit our neighborhood. My mom had moved only slightly forward to get a better view of the intersection, which the driver behind us had misinterpreted as us making a turn. He immediately attempted to drive forward, which ended up in him hitting our car. My mom and the other driver then stepped out of the cars to check on each other and call the police to assess the situation. While our car had only a minor dent to the door of the trunk, the other car required a replacement of the headlight and severe denting at the front of the car. In the subsequent months after the accident, both cars ended up getting repaired at mechanics, and a four-way stoplight was built at that very intersection to prevent more accidents from occurring in the same spot. Since then, there have been significantly fewer accidents at that intersection, resulting in a safer driving experience for everyone using that road.
As a new driver on the road, I can implement several methods to ensure that I am a safer and better driver on the road. Firstly, I can practice driving regularly to gain more experience on the road so that I can understand subtle cues in communication that may not be explored in a driver’s education course. For example, I was initially unaware of the gesture of flashing high beams at another car to allow them to make a turn until I received it and my dad explained its meaning to me. Now that I am aware of this gesture, I can utilize it to improve my communication with others on the road to ensure that everyone is on the same page at an intersection. Additionally, I can ensure that I utilize my turn signals and discern the proper times to wave at other drivers to allow them to pass, allowing me to become more proactive and interact with other drivers. Secondly, I can check myself for fitness to drive before getting in the car. Since I am relatively susceptible to succumbing to my personal emotions or thoughts, a quick mental check and clearing of my head can prove beneficial for me to predict my momentary safety when I drive. If I am tired or emotional in the moment, I can wait to drive or search alternative methods to travel to ensure that I am not endangering others’ lives or mine by my inability to remain alert. By taking precautions and planning ahead, I can prioritize the safety of myself and others around me, thus contributing to a safer driving experience and fewer accidents for all other drivers on the road.