Three Solutions for Increasing Driver Safety

Three
Solutions for Increasing Driver Safety

Driver
safety is of utmost importance in the United States. America has
close to forty thousand deaths per year due to car accidents. The
economic loss to families due to the loss of the primary breadwinner,
loss of transportation, and the increase in insurance often devastate
families. The bizarre nature of how we citizens have become so
normalized to car accident deaths baffles me. My brother and father
drove by a fatal car crash just a few months ago, illustrating how
they are too familiar. I believe the government must take action to
prevent the deaths of thousands of lives due to automobile accidents.

         The
first thing I would do to fix the problem is to crack down on drunk
driving. There are over 10,000 drunk-driving deaths a tear in The
United States. I think it is abominable that people are allowed to
drive after receiving a DUI. I believe after one DUI; someone should
have their driver’s license taken away forever. I went to high
school with a student who was killed by a drunk driver. His
classmates, family, soccer teammates suffer more from his absence
that people who lose their right to drive will suffer. If an airplane
pilot in The United States flies intoxicated, they lose their pilot’s
license for life. The strict policy on flying drunk is why we do not
have any fatalities for drunk-flying airline crashes. My personal
experience with the loss of my friend and teammate leads me to
believe that the judicial system needs to crack down harder on drunk
drivers to make the roads safer for drivers who care for their own
lives.

         The
second thing I would do is improve education for drivers. In
Tennessee, I barely had any training, and I still got my license. I
had a few days of Drivers ed, and I was able to receive a
license with no driving test. My father rode with me after taking
Drivers ed and informed me that my driving was terrible. My
Dad made me drive with him for several months before I got my
driver’s license. Young people, on average, are terrible drivers
which, demonstrates a lack of proper training. That is why insurance
costs so much for a young driver. The standard for young driver’s
education needs heightening to ensure young people keep safe on the
roads because they are the ones killed in most car crashes. I have
several of my friends die because of careless driving. Things need to
change.      

         Lastly,
I would require cell phone companies to make all cellular devices to
disable texting if someone is traveling above twenty miles an hour. I
know Snapchat has this feature, and some iPhones may have this
setting, but I believe this should be a requirement. Phones can track
how fast you are going, and since being on the phone while driving is
a federal crime, why not go to the extreme. After all, studies are
starting to show that texting and driving are becoming more fatal
than drinking and driving. One of my friends was killed in a one-car
accident because he was texting his girlfriend while driving. With
the prevalence of cellular phones, in modern-day society, there needs
to be restrictions on distractions.

         Driving
is not something to be taken lightly. Many people die every year in
car crashes, and many more get injured. The ways to prevent these
accidental deaths are debatable, but change needs to happen because
the statistics for automobile deaths are outrageous. The laws need
change, the education standards need change, and drives need to take
to heart the seriousness around the subject of operating a dangerous
machine such as the car. I believe the ideas that I have present in
this essay will lessen the deaths in America due to the reduction of
fatal car accidents, and now the question is: Will anyone listen?