Saving Lives One Step At A Time

Car accidents are one of the most leading causes of death in the United States with an average amount of 34,000 Highway fatality deaths from the NHTSA during 2012. Car accidents have been a common problem in the United States for years, and we want to reduce the number of accidents while increasing the number of safe and aware drivers. I haven’t been affected by car accidents directly but I know a large number of people that have been directly affected by them. One of these people was my friend, and he passed away during the Fall of 2020. He was hit by a car that was parked on the side of a highway because another car was texting and driving and drove into the parked car. I was heavily impacted by his death, and I couldn’t imagine the amount of distress that his family was going through. This is why we need to take action on car accidents by tackling the drivers themselves. Drivers need to know the importance of driver’s education, and how they can be the safest drivers they can be so that deaths due to car accidents don’t affect any other lives. I also want to address the steps on how we can reduce the number of deaths that are related to driving, and how I, myself, can become a better and safer driver while helping others on the road.

First off, let’s address the importance of driver education. Driver education is crucial to people because it allows people to get a better understanding of how to drive safely on the road. It teaches how to take many precautions when driving on the road, and how to be a defensive driver instead of an offensive driver. If more drivers were taught to be defensive drivers there would be fewer accidents in the United States because everyone will be driving more cautiously and safely. This will result in fewer deaths and accidents while driving. That is why a driver’s education is so essential when receiving a license, but we need to push the main focus of a driver’s education further because driving can be a dangerous way of communication if not driving carefully and safely. The required amount of driver’s education that is important to receive a driver’s permit is not enough because it is not enforced throughout the whole process of getting a license. After the recipient gets a license, the rules of defensive driving are not enforced anymore, and this is where drivers learn bad habits when driving on public roads with other dangerous drivers. That is why we need to take steps to enforce these rules so that there are fewer accidents and deaths.

What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving, you may ask? Well, there are a great number of ways to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Even though you might hear the same piece of advice like obey the traffic laws, wear your seatbelt, avoid distractions, drive the recommended speed limit, do not drive when tired, stay away from alcohol and drugs, etc, they all are true but not enforced enough. To push this kind of safety habits into people’s minds we can add more required safety rules to the driver’s education test, the permit test, and the main driving test. This is so that these skills will stick with the driver during the period of time in which they are learning to drive. There should also be incentives for driving safely so that people will strive to drive safely. For example, I already know that there is cheaper car insurance for teenagers that take another driver’s safety lesson online. This is a good example of an incentive because it has teenagers retain safety habits in their mind while also gaining the main benefit from it like cheaper car insurance for teenagers. With this, there should be incentives for adults too, for example, cheaper insurance, discount on cars, automobile discounts, etc. This should also be given to adults with a good driving record so that those who are driving safe will keep driving safe. One of the best pieces of advice that can be given to keep you and others safe is to drive defensively, and be aware of others when you are driving. I am no stranger to bad drivers, and I was a bad driver once, but I notice that even with experience there are still many that drive dangerously.

Many of my peers drive unsafe and I notice that they drive very aggressively. This is a common thing among young drivers, and also adults too. I want to be able to stop this bad habit of driving because this bad habit will carry on to them as adults and their children because these habits will be carried on. Fortunately, my parents were good drivers, and their skills passed over to me, however, I am not a perfect driver, and that I have my flaws when it comes to driving. Steps that I can take to become a better driver by practicing driving, driving with my parents more so that they can critique me more, and by getting to the habit of driving with awareness. I can also take more lessons on safe driving so that I am more familiar with safe driving.

In conclusion, driving education is very important for keeping accidents low and keeping others safe. Driving education is essential for learning how to drive defensively so that others around you are aware of how you are driving so that they can also keep safe. Drivers need to know the importance of driver’s education, and how they can be the safest drivers they can be so that deaths due to car accidents don’t affect any other lives. Again there have been many car deaths in the United States and that we need to take action against this. That is why we need to push driving education further out to people