According to the CDC, motor vehicle accidents account for more than 50% of all teenage deaths in the United States. Car crashes kill teenagers more than anything else in America. With this in mind, still, so many parents are still willing to hand over the keys to inexperienced, untrained, and irresponsible drivers. Educating parents, and society in general, about the dangers of driving is the most important first step in reducing the number of motor vehicle fatalities. Too many people confidently get into their cars and are sure they will make it to their destination safely, maybe even sending a text or two on the way. Ensuring that people know the dangers, and legal repercussions, of reckless, and distracted, driving will ultimately help everyone, including society’s new drivers, be safer. Stricter policies need to be put in place to combat distractions, such as phone use, while operating a vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2022 alone, over 3,300 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents involving distracted drivers. Those operating vehicles, especially younger drivers, should have their license immediately revoked for a 12-month period if caught using their phone while driving. While this initiative may seem severe and unfair in punishment, it could be used as a way to illustrate the seriousness that is texting and driving. Because many parents do not properly enforce expectations such as these, it needs to be left to the justice system to protect other drivers from the harm that is distracted driving.
In addition to the temptations that phones pose to young drivers, their inexperience alone is enough to cause fatal accidents and lifelong consequences. When receiving their first driver’s license, teenagers should be expected to complete an in-depth traffic safety school. Passing the driver’s test simply is not enough. A key point to this traffic safety education needs to be the importance of learning to drive around other types of motor vehicles, such as motorcyclists. In 2022, motorcyclists accounted for over 15% of all road fatalities. With this in mind, drivers need to be taught how to share the road with 2-wheeled vehicles. It takes experience, skill, and focus to know how and when to look for smaller vehicles, and how to give space and provide enough following distance for riders on the road. This is a significant skill that needs to be taught before young teenagers are set free on the road. This initiative would provide for more safety and peace of mind, not just for cars and trucks, but for motorcycles and scooter riders as well.
To add, a mandatory program regarding motor vehicle safety would educate drivers on the fatal importance of defensive driving. Most young people are simply unaware of what defensive driving even entails. Planning ahead, staying calm, and allowing yourself and others to be safe on the road are all aspects of defensive driving that need to be taught to society’s youth in order to improve safety measures. Aggressive, angry, and procrastinative drivers all aid the problem that is motor vehicle fatalities, and eliminating those characteristics in drivers from a young age will allow for safer highways for everyone. As a society, parents should be encouraging their teenage children to stay calm and not consciously pose a threat to themselves, or anyone else on the road. Simple consideration and awareness are needed for this initiative and should be expected when receiving a driver’s license at a young age.
Motor vehicle accidents are no doubt a part of everyone’s lives at some point, whether that be from a simple side-swipe to a fatal head on collision. However, in one of those instances, which happens too frequently, the driver is not able to walk away. This is a serious pandemic that ails The United States, and still, people refuse to treat the causes. Eliminating unsafe practices, such as aggressive and distracted driving, and promoting education and safe driver training will ultimately make the roads safer for everyone. It is important to educate society, especially younger drivers, of the dangers that are involved in operating a motor vehicle. Accidents are going to happen on the road, but everyone should be expected to do their part to maintain the least threatening environment for other drivers and motorists. No one wants to receive the call that their mother, friend, or even child was killed while driving to work, school, or on the way to lunch. As a society, Americans as a whole need to do better at doing their part to safen the roads together, reducing the number of motor vehicle deaths and injuries.