Who is to blame for car crashes: the student or society?

Driving is something that has become so common in the United States. It is something that is normalized for adults and brings excitement to students. It is considered uncommon to not be able to drive as you approach adulthood. Many high school students choose to put in the work to obtain their drivers’ license immediately after they turn 16. Learning the vital aspects of driving is something that these young students pay minimal attention to since they are eager to start driving. What they are not aware of is that they are putting not only themselves but also those around them at risk for a motor accident. With further attention to the education that they are receiving, these young drivers will make the roads safer not only for them but also for pedestrians in other vehicles.

It is important to prioritize this education because without it there will be more fatalities. Living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I have been exposed to intense situations on the road. People are constantly not aware of their surroundings while on the road. If those obtaining their license have more care for the education of a driver’s license, the fatalities will decrease, and awareness of drivers will increase. In Texas, there is coursework that must be taken prior to driving for the first time. However, no matter how much work our government puts into prioritizing safety on the roads, students will brush past this aspect of driving. While the government does not need to modify the coursework, those who are learning how to drive need to be more engaged with the coursework. Many students chose to not learn several rules and regulations because they do not find it interesting. However, it is not about interest, it is about safety.

One step that we, as citizens, can take to decrease the number of fatalities related to motor vehicle crashes is practicing defensive driving rather than offensive driving. Many times, at least in Dallas, people are always rushing to get to their location. People are not focusing on those around them, but only on getting from point A to point B. If people were to focus on not only their vehicle, but also the vehicles surrounding them, then there would be fewer accidents on the road.

I have been lucky enough to never experience an accident on the road so far, but I know multiple young drivers who have. Most of them were minor accidents, such as rearing and ending someone or hitting an object that was not moving. However, each accident has a recurring theme: they were in a rush to go somewhere. If they had taken a few extra minutes to prepare themselves to drive, then they would have saved themselves a lot of trouble. You should always prepare yourself with sufficient time to get to the location to which you are going. On another note, I have seen people drive recklessly a countless number of times. It occurs most frequently when they have friends in or around their car. They get distracted and lose focus on the road. They forget that the whole intention of driving is to get from one location to another safely. Admittedly, the common ground of people who drive with distractions are those who recently acquired their driver’s license. I have also seen countless people drive recklessly on both highways and tollways, which is exceedingly dangerous due to the high speeds. You should not drive without care in general, but the faster you are going the more dangerous it is.

A step that we, as Americans, can take to be safer on the road is taking our time. Our society has normalized living a life with a full schedule. Many people are going from one event to another with little time to get there. If our society can reduce the number of tasks that one needs to get done in a single day, we will not have to rush on the roads as much as we currently do. Another step we can take is budgeting enough time to get from place to place. If you know that you need to be somewhere at a certain time, then schedule your drive so that you have plenty of time to get there. It is not beneficial to anyone if you are rushing somewhere because you did not plan enough time.

While there are many things that we can do to prevent fatalities and motor vehicle crashes on the road, it all starts with driving smarter. If you take that small step, then we will improve the quality of life of many American citizens.