How We Can Make Our Roads Safer

Everyday in America, an average of 90 people die in automobile accidents. The important thing to keep in mind about that statistic is that it is not a static number. It can be changed. One of the most important steps we need to take in order to make our roads safer is drivers ed. By making everyone behind the wheel knowledgeable about the real dangers of driving a car is an important first step. By making people understand the risks of driving a car, we can get them to slow down and prioritize safety over speed.

That’s another thing that’s important, getting people to slow down. It’s much easier to react to unusual road circumstances at slower speeds. A way of getting people to slow down could be lowering speed limits, or raising traffic enforcement of current speed limits. Everybody hates getting pulled over, but if we learned from the experience, our roads would be much safer for it.

Another way to make our roads safer is to more heavily enforce distracted driving laws. Nowadays many cars have interactive screens and tablets built-in, meaning that potentially deadly distractions are mandatory for the vehicle’s operation. By banning such distractions, or at least minimizing them, we can cause more people to pay attention while driving. This is not even to mention voluntary distracted driving, like texting or calling someone while on the road. The penalties for those should be much higher, as doing it once is a heavy indicator of repeated offenses.

Aside from outside determinants, a real factor in the safety of our roads is the skill of the drivers on them. We should make getting a license more difficult, with more strict tests and courses. Other countries with systems like this have much lower accidents rates than us. In addition, a way to deal with the upkeep of driving skill is to make licenses temporary, with a required test every five to ten years to renew it.

One of the largest causes of car accidents are drivers operating their vehicle under the influence of unnatural substances. To prevent these, or at least lower them, we should treat them as seriously as possible. Repeat offenders are very common, so the minimum punishment should be a suspended license. If we take even some of these steps, we can clean up our roads significantly.

Personally, I’ve never been in a car accident. But while in my family’s car, and in the car of some of my friends, I’ve seen distracted driving, whether from talking or phone use. The best way for me to become a better driver, as well as anybody, is to focus on driving. If I take what I’m doing seriously, pay attention, and be careful, I guarantee my chances of a car accident being as low as possible. And that’s really what we need to do. If we can get everybody to pay attention and focus on the road, accidents will drop.

SUBMIT MAY 1ST

https://studentscholarships.org/scholarship/13896/driver_education_initiative_annual_scholarship_scholarship.php