Carful Drivers are the Best Drivers

In the U.S., close to 50,000 people died this past year in 2021 due to car accidents, with about 5 million being seriously injured due to them. In the first quarter of 2022, there were about 9,600 deaths due to car accidents. The numbers over the years concerning deaths related to car crashes have been on the rise. Before I started researching the topic, I had no idea that these statistics were and are increasing. This made me question if we as a nation are doing enough to avoid these types of incidents, and based on the numbers, we are doing a terrible job.

In my home state of Illinois alone, there has been almost a 20% increase in the amount of deaths related to driving, higher than the increase the rest of the Midwest saw at 13%. These big increases in the nation as a whole all occurred during and after the pandemic, which could be an indicator of the levels of stress and anxiety that the pandemic had caused on those of us that drive.

The main topic that must be addressed is how we are going educate people about the dangers of distracted and reckless driving, so that no one will ever have to question whether or not they will return home when taking their car out onto the road. First off, we need law enforcement to be more strict on making sure people aren’t on their phones when driving. Instead of letting people off with a warning when the driver was obviously speeding or distracted, traffic cops should just give them the ticket. Getting a ticket is a lot better than losing your life because you were trying to send a text. People may get irritated when pulled over more often, but it will make the roads a lot safer for everybody.

Second, parents should do a better job of discouraging kids from driving recklessly, especially when they have just received their license. As a teen myself, I may get frustrated with my parents when they won’t let me take the car out on a late night to hang out with friends, but I know deep down they are doing it for my best interest. However, I see the case with a lot of other kids my age, where their parents don’t really pay much attention to this topic and let their kids do whatever they want with their cars. During a time in our lives where we are still developing and learning our morals as young adults, it is crucial for our parents to promote safe driving, and make sure their kids are being smart and following the rules of the road.

Lastly, we must continue teaching those in driver’s education about the dangers of reckless driving. If new drivers are taught early on what to and what not to do much more than they already are, we can hopefully get it in everyone’s head that driving is something that should be done with care and safety. The website dmvedu.org even provides a line graph depicting the amount of deaths due to car accidents per year up until 2012, along with a table to the right of it depicting the deaths caused by wars we have had in the past. It is sad to see that the amount of people who died in wars like both World Wars and the Vietnam War are being compared to the amount of people today that have died in car accidents. It can be seen that the roads in the U.S. are a warzone of their own, and it’s disappointing when there are ways we can most definitely change these terribly high numbers.

As an avid driver myself, I hate having the fear that I may be at risk of getting injured or even killed on the road. It has been reported that over 50% of accidents occur within a 5 mile radius of the driver’s home. Not only am I and others taking the risk to go out on busy roads and highways, but even more so when I am only a few minutes from my house.

As a country, we need to better understand the requirements and attention it takes to be good drivers. Especially in a world of exponentially increasing technological advancement, it should be a no-brainer to give both cars and drivers the best resources in order to be safe on the roads. I believe we have enough of these advancements already; however, the numbers say otherwise, and we must do everything we can to reduce the amount of deaths and injuries caused by driving.