Name: Jeremiah Stakes
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Votes: 0
Jeremiah
Stakes
Youth
Forward Scholarship 2019- Road Safety
Albuquerque,
New Mexico (87123)
22
March 2019
Road
Safety and the Necessary Paradigm Shift
Road
safety in the state of New Mexico is a serious problem that
continuously proves to be a serious problem, yet little to no
improvements show through statistics from year to year. Statistically
speaking, the amount of vehicle-related injuries and deaths in this
state have increased by a constant two percent every year from
2014-2016 (from 15.1% to 19.0%). Despite the fact that drivers
education courses accompanied by numerous other requirements to
receive a provisional licenses are enforced by law, the unfortunate
truth is that something in the current system is not successful.
Distracted driving is a large contributor, such as cell phone usage,
but what causes over 50% of ALL accidents in this state is DWI.
Cell
phone usage is the current leader among the distractions for drivers
in this modern era, and as cars shift into more
technologically-focused and intuitive setups the misuse of technology
while operating a motor vehicle is only going to increase. While
certain applications (vehicle and cellular installed) do not operate
when movement is detected, there is just not a way to stop people
from using their phones while driving. Cellphone usage while driving
has been illegal in the state of New Mexico since 2014; roughly 300
tickets are distributed to the citizens of New Mexico every year
because of this, and yet the number of accidents they cause are over
330,000 as recorded by Transportation Department of the Univerisity
of New Mexico. Consequences of misuse are fines of $25 (first
offense) and $50 (every incident followed), with no eventual
confiscation or suspension of drivers licenses. Between little
enforcement by law and rather loose consequences to ensue, the
problem is expected to grow over 400%.
Where
do changes Road Safety courses come in? Because of the changing times
and lack of compliance from both the population and law enforcement.
Road Safety courses simply show videos and do not allow use during
enrollment, what happens after appears to not be their concern, and
so in order to make a noticeable change, I believe the curriculum
needs to change. The inclusion of proper usage of a cell phone while
driving should be included in these courses since it is obvious that
things will not change. These inclusions would teach students to use
features such as voice-to-speech or to only check their phones when
at a complete stop. I do not believe that teaching students how to
text and drive is the answer, but rather to teach and inform those
new drivers responsible usage since statistically, it is a likely
occurrence. As a student who admittedly uses their phone more than
they should while driving, as well as losing family members, and
having a friend recently go into critical condition because of a car
accident, changes to the way that Road Safety exists needs to change
with the times.
The
most important thing in relevance is to keep up with the times, and
as these programs show videos from the 1980s, its faults fall close
to that of which Sexual Educations programs face across the country,
in that in order to get a message across to changing times, there
exists a need to modernize your methods. Instead of preaching pure
avoidance to the problems, people need to learn how to deal and
function in these situations accordingly, and if the neglect
continues, it seems the driving safety of the state will get lower
without change. Exposure and training in circumstances not only
trains people to make better decisions in those moments but also work
to add prerequisite experience; the main point of drivers ed
programs and their seminar teach about making better decisions while
driving.
In
conclusion, with a lack of enforcement from the law, outdated
teachings, and the ever-growing problem, the grey space of the
current Drivers Safety is up to the educational courses to fulfill
and resolve. New inclusive curriculums may not be easy to compose for
the schools here, however as the problems grow around me, I cannot
let the problem go unaddressed. The old saying “ignorance
is a bliss”
is becoming a phrase looked-down upon due to the increasing stress
placed on intelligent decision making in a changing world, the same
thing applies to traffic safety. Education is key to changing the
problems around us, and in order to keep those I care about safety in
the state, I call home, a paradigm shift in the approach of Road
Safety is absolutely necessary for the people of this state to be
safer while driving.
