Saving Lives Through Safer Driving

Driving a car is typically taken very lightly and not thought of as being very dangerous. However, it’s simple physics, a large thousand-pound object traveling at high speeds has a lot of momentum and can do a lot of damage. The responsibility of being a safe driver shouldn’t be taken lightly especially knowing the fact that over 30,000 people are killed each year as a result of driving. I believe drivers ed is very important in increasing safe driving rates and decreasing the number car accidents. Drivers ed serves to teach young drivers how to drive safely and the consequences of unsafe driving. It is necessary for not only all drivers, but for all passengers to understand how big of a responsibility driving a car is. Therefore, drivers ed should be required curriculum for all students in school before the age of 16. This would give everyone, even people that won’t get their licenses, an understanding of how to be safe as a passenger and how to be a better driver.

Overall traffic related fatalities in the U.S. are lower than they were in previous decades; however, they are still higher than they could be. While this statistic will never reach zero, I believe that there are steps that we can take to decrease these numbers. Increasing the difficulty of obtaining a driver’s license would decrease the rate of traffic related fatalities. One way to increases the difficulty of obtaining a license would be a longer road test. A longer test would give the BMV a better understanding of the driver’s ability and allow them to make a better judgement an if the driver is safe for the roads.

Unfortunately, I have had a couple of experiences with car accidents. The thing that they all had in common was lack of awareness of the surroundings of the car. I believe that this comes with experience in driving and knowing the space between cars. This issue could be solved by requiring more driving time with an adult driver before being able to get a driver’s license. Also, in these situations distracted driving could have been an issue. Looking up from a cell phone and being fully focused on driving a car could have prevented millions of dollars of damage and saved countless lives throughout the U.S.

As an individual it is important for me to remember to not look at my phone while driving. Also, it’s important for me to pay attention to everything that’s going on especially while on a long road trip. It’s easy to lose focus and gradually pay less attention to the road. To increase focus, I could take more frequent breaks to rest and switching drivers occasionally would create a safer driving environment. It’s also important to help the driver as a passenger. I try to point out things that the driver might not see and make sure that the driver is focused and not distracted by their phone, changing the radio or eating while driving.