The Key Problems of Driving

Sergio Mendoza

There are five states in the United States that offer 14 years old’s their permit to begin driving, so driving education is instilled into their brains at a very young age. This important skill is taught at such a young age where the human brain is still developing that it's important that we learn properly. Drivers ed was implemented to properly teach teen's young brains the importance of safely managing the road because it's an important skill they'll use for the rest of their lives and without it, the sheer number of deaths would only rise. We put ourselves in danger every time we step foot into a car, even if it’s someone we trust with our lives.

Though there are many different perspectives when it comes to how to handle the ever so climbing death statistic when it comes to driving, there’s very few that occur. When younger people are taught to drive, they learn everything that there is to learn about safe driving, but the problem occurs when implementing those safe driving habits in their everyday lives. Younger people are more likely to develop bad driving habits instead of the good ones that we were initially taught. The two most common causes of driving caused deaths are speeding and drunk driving, which is usually very common in the younger age groups. (carsurance, Raj Vardhman)

I believe that the biggest step we can take in reducing driving-related deaths is by lowering the total amount of cars on busy streets. They’re millions of cars on the streets of California at the same time. If we make the same goal that companies such as Uber to begin granting easier access to transportation services and this will encourage a larger group of people to avoid speeding and drunk driving. This could all range from deals at local bars/pubs to discounts on holidays.

Even though the solution might not be simple, there's still a variety of solutions that can help. Taking the time to understand why people speed and why people drink and drive is the greatest step we can take to solve a problem such as this.

Another common cause of car accidents that wreaks havoc on people’s wellbeing is road rage. In 2013, an estimated 300 deaths were linked to road rage (The Zebra, 2019). Those lucky few who didn’t die from road rage caused accidents, usually have injuries that can be long-lasting and that’s the sad, unfortunate truth regarding a family friend of mine. Being only 5 years old and at the back seat of her parent’s car, she was subject to the unfortunate aftermath of road rage and still experiences trauma from that day.

Though the task may be hard to accomplish, we're heading in the right direction with the car-related deaths reducing every year. We may not eliminate car-related deaths, but I see a future where the number of fatalities seems like a thing in the past for people of all ages.