Driving into Safety

Drivers who have not completed a drivers ed are 75% more likely to get a traffic ticket and 24% more likely to be involved in an injurious or fatal accident (Drivers ed Statistics). By completing drivers ed, young people learn the basics of controlling a car and traffic maneuvers. They also learn the correct way to adjust mirrors, enter and exit traffic, change lanes, and much more. Most importantly, they will learn how to foresee hazards on the road and adjust accordingly. This will assist drivers in knowing how to act on the road in any situation. Not only should drivers ed be required for new drivers, but a refresher course for older drivers would keep our roads safer. The rules of the road would then be in the front of everyone’s mind. Another way to make the road safer would be to have stricter enforcement for breaking traffic laws. In Australia, a higher penalty for speeding offences resulted in a 30% reduction in the number of fatal crashes. Enforcing the use of the seatbelts has saved an estimated 63,000 lives in the United States from 2008 to 2012. It has also been found that speed and red-light cameras improve the behavior of drivers. In the United States, cities with red-light cameras had 24% fewer crashes in 4 years than cities without cameras and fatal crashes at intersections with the cameras were 17% lower (Ways to Reduce Road Fatalities). Increasing the standards for vehicle safety would save lives if an accident does occur. We can’t totally prevent traffic related deaths unfortunately, but there are plenty of ways we can decrease the rate of driving fatalities.

Back in August 2017, I was just starting the three-hour trip home from Norfolk, Virginia when I was involved in an accident. While driving through a tunnel, a car cut everyone off, resulting in slamming brakes. The car in front of me stopped completely, but I was unable to do so, and ended up totaling my mom’s car in the process. Although this was a traumatizing experience for me, there was nothing fatal with our accident because we were all wearing our seatbelts and were riding in a car that has high safety standards. 3 years later I still have anxiety, but I have since learned to be a better driver. I now make sure that I follow a car at least 4 seconds behind and I am constantly looking for possible hazards on the road ahead of me. I try to help others be better drivers by allowing enough room for someone to get over and thereby reducing the amount of aggressive driving. I’ve also taught two people to drive defensively on the roads and so far, I can say that they are pretty good drivers. If we all took our time while driving and realized that everyone else on the road had lives that were just as important as ours, we could make driving so much easier and safer.