Promoting Incident Education and Improving Road Quality

In the United States, the majority of all car crash deaths are caused by drivers who were intoxicated by drugs or alcohol. The majority of car crashes in general, among teenagers and adults, were caused by distracted driving. When it comes to solving these two problems, there isn’t much more we could do beyond repeating the same mantras on billboards and stop signs along frequent routes.

“Keep your phone in a reachable area in case of an emergency but don’t go on it unless necessary.”

“Put on a playlist and leave it, no need to skip songs or look them up.”

“If you’ve had more than one alcoholic drink you can’t go behind the wheel.”

The problem with each and everyone of these statements is that any individual put in this position will be biased at the moment. Every one of those sentences has parameters that people take to be subjective. It’s an emergency that Sarah messages her boyfriend back and Jack had a few drinks but he has a tolerance built up by now, right? People will be motivated to do whatever makes them happy in the moment, not think about the possible implications of their actions.

Change happens through the rules we can enforce. It isn’t realistic to expect every driver to prioritize their attention towards the road. Any driver deciding whether they have had too much to drink or not is being influenced to one degree or another by a substance so we can’t always assume that the result will be rational. So what’s the most impactful factor towards car crash deaths that we can control? How people respond to the accident and providing quality roads for drivers.

One major factor in car crash deaths is how the individuals involved in the accident deal with their automobiles and injuries in the aftermath. To counteract poor decision making, we could incorporate a law that requires all drivers education courses to include a unit that focuses on what you should do if you get into an accident. While some institutions may do this, it is not required. In many car accidents those involved can receive whiplash from the sudden stop which can be worsened by intense movement of the neck. Another common injury in more intense accidents is spinal cord injury or inflammation, which can have long term and extreme impacts on the individual if not handled properly. These are only a few of many situations that drivers should be aware of how to handle before ever stepping into the vehicle.

In addition to lack of education, decreasing road quality is a very large problem all throughout the United States, especially in low income areas. Certified by many sources including Injury Claim Coach, Personal Injury Law Statistics, and several specialized law firms, about 35-50% of all car accidents have at least one factor contributing to poor road conditions. These statistics have led to thousands of fatalities and around 2 million injuries every year. Beyond extreme incidents, road blemishes such as deep potholes can cause small unnoticeable health problems for drivers that will become worse over time. They can also affect the quality of the automobile if it is driven on these roads often, making the individual more vulnerable during a major car accident.

Many citizens encounter one major obstacle when it comes to improving their roads, they are expected to pay more money beyond taxes to fix these roads. Unless there is a reason that the citizens themselves should be at fault for a major issue with the road, the wear of transportation should be considered a government expense for all roads open to public travel. This is one way that we can help to improve road safety to no expense of the US citizen. This will help to offer a greater defense to individuals who experience a car accident with less road damage to their vehicles and fewer minor injuries that could worsen in a collision.

These two principles, although small, can have major impacts on road safety. They can affect many factors of everyday driving, including how we handle dangerous situations. By educating our drivers on how they should respond to a car accident, we can reduce the severity of injuries incurred and decrease the number of fatalities incurred every year. In improving the road conditions we can help younger drivers to feel more relaxed on the road, preserve vehicle quality for all drivers, and prioritize driver safety. We don’t have to completely change the United States system for transportation, we just have to alter it to prioritize our citizens’ safety.