Driver Safety

There are over 1 billion cars that exist in the world today. In the US alone the number is roughly 250,000,000. This means in this day and age having a proper driver’s education is crucial to social and economic life. In the US there are about 5 million car crashes every year, and nearly 1 million deaths follow. If kids knew proper driving education, how to handle a car, how to drive, the laws on the road, etc. Then car accidents wouldn’t be such a normal occurrence. And multiple steps outside of driver education can be used to reduce these deaths.

Most accidents in the US occur because of distracted drivers. Whether it be texting, a phone call, or a person in the car with them, car crashes normally occur when a driver is distracted. If people don’t learn driver education, they wouldn’t know that it’s illegal to text and drive. They wouldn’t even know what to do when they drive near a reckless driver, which can put them at risk. That’s why it’s absolutely necessary to learn about the road and offer these classes so that all kids can have access to them. For me personally I was fortunate enough to have my school offer the course and so I saved money and was properly taught how to drive and all the rules of the road. However some kids aren’t always as fortunate and have to end up paying a lot of money to take the course. Or their parents dont teach them and they don’t have money so they resort to teaching themselves. Whatever the reason, something has to be done because this causes kids to start driving with no licenses or permits and it ends putting their lives at risk. So to reduce the number of driving deaths we have to offer better alternatives.

I myself have never been in a car crash thankfully, but I know some of my relatives who have. And I know some people who drive extremely recklessly. They tend to either have older cars that they don’t care about or new cars they want to show off. WIth the ending result being the same, they end up crashing their car. Thankfully nobody in my family or no one I know has died from them, but they have gotten injuries. Sometimes it’s not always their fault but we still have to teach them how to avoid these situations. Even if you’re following the law and driving the right way, the cars next to you may not, which forces you to be extra careful. I think to reduce the risk of these crashes, harsher punishments have to be given to people who speed, text and drive, or drink and drive.Longer suspensions of their licenses, more expensive fines, anything that lets them know not to do it again. Because if they do it once and get a slap on the wrist, odds are they’re going to do it again. So it just comes down to being better at enforcing our laws and becoming more strict to protect everyone.

Another major factor is drinking and driving. Driving under the influence makes up around 25% of all accidents in the US. And it’s because we’re again not doing a good job at preventing the citations. Now of course we can’t be perfect and people are going to make their own decision at the end, but drunk people aren’t capable enough to make their own decisions so more options should be given to them. Now we already have uber and lift, but what’s stopping someone from bringing their own car. To respond we need bars and bartenders to spot anyone who has had too much to drink and not allow them to leave on their own. Or we can make a law that requires businesses to offer a driving service to its customers at whatever they charge. So the people don’t feel obligated to drive on their own. I think we have all read about what happened to the NFL player Henry Ruggs and the crash he caused not too long ago. DUIs are no joke and licenses should be suspended permanently for anyone who does it.

In the end it is up to people to decide whether they want to take responsibility and not involve themselves in dangerous acts when driving. But as a country we have an obligation towards the people to prove and make laws to protect. I know it isn’t easy but it’s something that needs attention.