The Road to a Safer America

The Road to a Safer America

The United States of America has a major problem with speeding, texting while driving, and car accidents. Over 6 million car crashes occurred this year alone and were caused by people speeding and being unaware of their surroundings. This leads to unnecessary injuries and or deaths. Over 37,461 people have been killed by getting hit by vehicles. A few ways to make the streets of the United States safer includes providing accessible and continuous sidewalks, converting underused or inactive spaces into pedestrian plazas, and delivering safe zones for children and young adults. Local and federal governments should work together to always keep the streets and its pedestrians safe. 

There are many ways that people can make the streets safer for its citizens. Sidewalks should be extended so that people do not have to walk so close to the road. If a car skids off the side of the road, people would not get hit because the sidewalk is extended.  This extension of the sidewalk needs to occur because there are many unnecessary deaths that happen because of people getting hit by cars. There should be visible signs on all sides of the streets so that drivers are aware that pedestrians walk on the roads. These signs will help drivers slow down and realize that their speed may be a danger to others. 

 There should also be more police enforcement on the road to stop speeding. This way, people will drive safer, at a slower speed, and less accidents would likely occur. Studies have shown that for every 1 percent increase in speed there is a 4 percent increase in fatal crashes. Police officers patrolling the streets can ensure that drivers are following the rules and regulations of the road. 

All drivers should have mobile phones that will completely turn off while driving. When people are texting and driving, they are unaware of their surroundings or what is in front of them, giving them little time to react. This is a huge problem because over 1.6 million crashes are caused by texting and driving every year. Fines should be given to drivers who text and drive or are speaking on the phone while driving. This lack of concentration on the road is dangerous not only to the driver on the phone, but to the other drivers on the road as well. 

Speed bumps should be added in areas where there are a lot of people so that cars are forced to slow down and avoid fatalities. Speed limits should be decreased in areas that are busy so that people will have more time to react and less accidents will occur. The speed bumps will force drivers to slow down their speed when in designated areas.

  If local and federal officials start to make these changes, all streets would become much safer. Accidents would occur very rarely rather than being mistakes that could have been prevented. Local and federal governments must work together to streamline law and agree on punishments for those who break the laws. People need to obey the laws and speed limits to prevent unnecessary deaths. 

I have never been in a bad car accident, but I have had family members who have been in multiple car accidents. There was a three-month span where my father was a victim in 5 accidents. He was never at fault as a driver, but these accidents happened because people were either on their cell phones or texting while driving. The drivers were unaware of the traffic lights, or they ran through the stop signs. The abuse while driving causes many bad accidents that could have easily been avoided had the driver been paying attention to the road and the signs. The worst accident that my father experienced was when he was driving, and the traffic light turned green. At the time, there was an elderly lady walking across the street. He wanted to let her cross the street and not rush her, but at the same time the car behind him was not looking, crashed into my father’s car, making him hit the lady crossing the street.  The lady was extremely lucky to only have a broken ankle. This accident could have ended tragically because of the driver who was not paying attention. People need to focus when driving because operating a vehicle is a serious matter. Many people die each year by getting hit by cars or from the effects of accidents that could have easily been prevented if they were paying attention.