Weapons of Transportation
2026 Driver Education Round 1
Jack Belbusti
North Andover, Mass
The majority of people over the age of 18 know the experience of driving a car, and even if you haven't driven a car, it is a near guarantee that you have at least ridden in one. It is also known that car crashes, and the deaths associated with them are numerous in the United States. My town of North Andover has had an example of a senior named Brenda who died in a car crash last year. On top of that when I was in 8th grade another middle schooler was hit by a truck right in front of the school. I have also personally experienced a car crash when I was younger, so I feel somewhat confident in my ability to speak on this topic. From my personal experience both driving and riding in cars I have created a short list of principles to follow when driving. If said rules are followed and widely known the number of crashes and related deaths would decrease significantly.
The first principle of safe driving is to avoid distraction. This is by far the most obvious rule when driving. Cars weigh 1000s of pounds and are easily capable of killing if not operated with care. Even a reckless driver comprehends that their actions have risks, even though their threshold for acceptable risk is far too high. Distracted drivers, on the other hand, do not even do that much. A distracted driver literally cannot see any risk in their specific choices since they aren't thinking about them. I fully understand needing directions when driving or listening to music, but even still you need to be at least 80% focused on driving. My advice is to get some phone holder for your car so that you can, for example, skip a song without being distracted for over half a second. An alternate idea is to come to a full stop at stop signs and quickly skip a song and then focus back on the road. It should also be known that if you listen to music while driving, make sure you can still hear road sounds over the music. Although vision is the primary sense used in driving, sounds are still important. Overall, the principle of minimizing distraction is incredibly obvious and by far the most common-sense principle, but it is arguably the most important.
The second principle, courtesy of my dad, is to be a predictable driver. For instance, if you wait an extra couple seconds at a for way stop sign to allow another car to pass it is possible that you could cause a crash because the other drivers didn't know when you would start accelerating. In that hypothetical you would be a nice driver, but not a predictable one. The most difficult part of driving is negotiating intersections with other drivers. In a hypothetical negotiation it is much easier to work with a predictable person than an overly nice person. Ultimately this principle is the one I have the least proof for, but the idea makes sense and is easily applicable.
My final major principle for safe driving is understanding the context involved with the different speeds you drive at. When driving in neighborhoods your speed should generally be 25mph max. That 25mph is close to the line where you can react in time to stop collisions with fairly close pedestrians. When driving on backroads or small-scale highways you should normally drive at around 30-40mph because it is a speed where you can control the car and make fairly sharp turns, and in general on those areas you have a much lower need to watch for pedestrians (though you still obviously need to). Lastly, on highways it is important to know that the speed limit acts a more of a guideline instead of a rule. On highways it is much safer to go the average speed of the road instead of the actual speed limit. The reason for this is that a slower driver moves more relative to the other drivers on the road, which makes them less predictable, thus harder to deal with. As a general rule of thumb when driving, follow the speed of other drivers on the road, then default to the speed limit afterwards.
In conclusion, if the public can learn to drive with minimal distractions, be a predictable driver, and know the appropriate speed for the context you drive in. As long as general common sense rules are followed, and there is an understanding that cars are easily capable of killing. As long as the potential risks of driving are known, and we all drive responsibly, we can reduce crashes and fatalities from crashes.
The first principle of safe driving is to avoid distraction. This is by far the most obvious rule when driving. Cars weigh 1000s of pounds and are easily capable of killing if not operated with care. Even a reckless driver comprehends that their actions have risks, even though their threshold for acceptable risk is far too high. Distracted drivers, on the other hand, do not even do that much. A distracted driver literally cannot see any risk in their specific choices since they aren't thinking about them. I fully understand needing directions when driving or listening to music, but even still you need to be at least 80% focused on driving. My advice is to get some phone holder for your car so that you can, for example, skip a song without being distracted for over half a second. An alternate idea is to come to a full stop at stop signs and quickly skip a song and then focus back on the road. It should also be known that if you listen to music while driving, make sure you can still hear road sounds over the music. Although vision is the primary sense used in driving, sounds are still important. Overall, the principle of minimizing distraction is incredibly obvious and by far the most common-sense principle, but it is arguably the most important.
The second principle, courtesy of my dad, is to be a predictable driver. For instance, if you wait an extra couple seconds at a for way stop sign to allow another car to pass it is possible that you could cause a crash because the other drivers didn't know when you would start accelerating. In that hypothetical you would be a nice driver, but not a predictable one. The most difficult part of driving is negotiating intersections with other drivers. In a hypothetical negotiation it is much easier to work with a predictable person than an overly nice person. Ultimately this principle is the one I have the least proof for, but the idea makes sense and is easily applicable.
My final major principle for safe driving is understanding the context involved with the different speeds you drive at. When driving in neighborhoods your speed should generally be 25mph max. That 25mph is close to the line where you can react in time to stop collisions with fairly close pedestrians. When driving on backroads or small-scale highways you should normally drive at around 30-40mph because it is a speed where you can control the car and make fairly sharp turns, and in general on those areas you have a much lower need to watch for pedestrians (though you still obviously need to). Lastly, on highways it is important to know that the speed limit acts a more of a guideline instead of a rule. On highways it is much safer to go the average speed of the road instead of the actual speed limit. The reason for this is that a slower driver moves more relative to the other drivers on the road, which makes them less predictable, thus harder to deal with. As a general rule of thumb when driving, follow the speed of other drivers on the road, then default to the speed limit afterwards.
In conclusion, if the public can learn to drive with minimal distractions, be a predictable driver, and know the appropriate speed for the context you drive in. As long as general common sense rules are followed, and there is an understanding that cars are easily capable of killing. As long as the potential risks of driving are known, and we all drive responsibly, we can reduce crashes and fatalities from crashes.
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