Distractions Lead to Disasters

There is an average of 34,000 people that die each year from driving in America. That number is way higher than it should be. The reason that this many people have died and gotten injured is because they don’t take the necessary precautions to drive safely. This is partly because people think that nothing bad will happen to them. As well as not knowing the risks and dangers. With more driver education and restrictions for new drivers the roads would be safer.

Many people believe that they will never get into a car crash. It only usually changes when something happens to them or someone close to them. If people could get rid of this mentality before something bad happens then they would be a safer driver. Simple things can seem like they are not that important to do even though they can majorly decrease the risk of death and injury. Take buckling your seatbelt, when you wear a seatbelt the risk of injury and death is decreased by 50%. That is a giant change from doing something that takes five seconds to do. Something else that is important to do is to limit distractions as much as possible. This means things like talking to people in the car, taking phone calls, or other devices. All of these things can cause you to lose focus of the road and get into an accident. In 2020 3,142 people died from accident related incidents. This shows that it is very important to make sure that you never lose your focus on the road.

While I have not been in a vehicle crash my mom has. She was riding on the back of a motorcycle. She had told the person that was driving that all she wanted to do was go around the neighborhood. That way they wouldn’t go very fast. The person driving started to go onto the main road and went to turn around. There was gravel on the road where they were turning. The driver lost control and was able to get off of it quickly. My mom didn’t jump off and held onto the motorcycle for ten flips. She was airlifted to Harborview Hospital. There she found out that she had broken over twenty five bones and could possibly go paralized. For years she had to go to physical therapy, doctor appointments, and deal with everlasting pain. That means that she then had to pay for medical bills while not being able to go to work until she was better. While she is doing much better today, that accident has changed her life forever.

I have also seen a car crash that happened because the people driving were not paying attention. It was on the corner of the road and two cars both turned and crashed into the front of one another. Thankfully both of the people driving were fine although their cars were not. If even one of those people took a second to make sure that someone was not also turning they would have not crashed their cars. Even if people don’t die or get injured in car crashes their car would still get damaged. Then lots of money would need to be spent to fix or get a new car. It is easier to pay attention than to get a big bill.

There are some restrictions that have been put in place for new drivers so that they are safer in Washington state. One is if you have an intermediate driver’s license for the first six months you are not able to have anyone in the car unless they are over 20 years old and are a part of your immediate family. This restriction is so that new drivers are able to get used to driving around before they take friends places. This is because when people are with their friends they are likely to get distracted. Teenagers would rather talk with their friends than focus on the road. Restrictions like this are in place so that the new drivers can focus on driving safely and getting comfortable. Restrictions like this would help keep the roads safer everywhere.

This all shows that with more driver education and restrictions driving would be safer for everyone on the road. They would then know the importance of safety precautions and how they can save your life. As well as knowing that without being safe you can get badly hurt and spend lots of time in pain and debt.