In the Driver’s Seat

In the Driver’s Seat:

In 2000, 1.26 million people died due to traffic incidents. This staggering figure accounts for 25% of all deaths by injury that year (Berg, 2006). Since then, traffic injuries are still the main cause of death in individuals aged 15-29 years old (Alvarez and Colonna, 2020). The inexperience of younger drivers means that they are more prone to these incidents (Berg, 2006), which is why it’s so important to educate up and coming drivers on road safety, so that they don’t become one of these statistics. In one study (Peck, 2011), drivers who had taken part in drivers education, alongside learning how to drive, saw a crash reduction of 16.4% in the first six months of passing. Even 24 months later, their crash reduction was 8.3%, showing that there are long term benefits to educating young drivers. But, also showing that refresher sessions will be necessary and important to complete further down the road. To this effect, elderly drivers should also be keeping up to date with drivers education and refreshing their knowledge. As in one study 26% of all road accidents in the year were caused by drivers over 65 years old (Bilban, 1997) and in another study elderly age groups were one of the most likely to be involved in a two-car crash (Regev et al., 2018). Educating drivers has also shown the value of not driving whilst tired and has reduced sleep-related crashes by encouraging drivers to take breaks when necessary (Powell et al., 2002; Williamson et al., 2014). It’s, therefore, important to continue to educate yourself on road safety, no matter your age, so that you can keep yourself and others protected.

Drivers education can provide a driver with a lot of helpful advice that can help to reduce the number of deaths and safety whilst driving on the roads. Upcoming drivers need to be educated on the risks of using their mobile phone while driving. It was estimated during one study (Farmer et al., 2010) that 22% of the crashes in the US in 2008 could have been prevented if distractions, such as mobile phones, weren’t a factor. That’s 1.3 million crashes that could have been prevented by adequate, reinforced education informing drivers of the risks involved with looking at their mobile phone while driving, even for a second.

Drink driving is another big risk factor when thinking about the causes of car accidents, although education on this matter over the last few decades has been increasing and crashes due to intoxication have massively reduced (Vanlaar et al., 2012). Continuing to focus on the problem of drink driving will further decrease the prevalence of this issue and providing alternative ways for people to get home after a night out may eliminate this issue altogether.

In North America, a graduate driver licence has been implemented that includes the supervision of new drivers even after they’ve passed their exam and has been shown to reduce crashes (Mayhew and Simpson, 2002). This successful program could be a turning point for newly qualified drivers and, hopefully, will be employed in other countries to curb traffic accidents.

One of the main issues for young drivers is their inability to perceive hazards compared to experienced drivers (Castro et al., 2019). Education on this matter and widespread hazard perception testing could reduce this learning gap for young drivers and be a key to reducing driving related deaths.

Paid or longer breaks for lorry drivers could also be a big contributor to reducing the number of deaths on the road. Lorry drivers are often over-worked and drive for very long periods of time, meaning that they often drift off. Time constraints for delivering the loads could put extra pressure on the lorry driver, adding to their fatigue. Due to the sheer size of their vehicles, when these drivers fall asleep at the wheel, it can cause disastrous effects for everyone involved in a potential crash. Improving education and awareness of this factor could encourage companies to require drivers to take breaks whenever they deem necessary and reduce these big build ups in the future (Chen and Xie, 2014).

The implementation of speed cameras has also been shown to reduce crashes. In a study, the placement of speed cameras in Arizona led to a decrease in crashes of up to 44-55% (Wilson et al., 2010), showing that increased focus on fixed speed cameras throughout the world would greatly reduce the risk of death due to irresponsible driving.

Personally, I have only been involved in one car crash, luckily, just a small one. While I was driving home one evening someone pulled onto the road I was driving on, without looking, and crashed into my driver’s side at speed. I had only been driving for a short period at this time and it absolutely shocked me to find myself in that position. I still don’t understand how he claimed he didn’t see me, and I wondered if he was distracted by his phone or drinking while he undertook his illegal manoeuvre. I don’t know if he had undertaken drivers education, so I can’t comment on whether further education would have prevented this crash. But I’m sure that if he had, genuinely, been paying attention to the road, that crash wouldn’t have happened. I can only imagine how, if the situation was slightly different or if he’d managed to build up more speed before he hit me, I could’ve become just another figure. So, I definitely advocate the importance of drivers education and the emphasis of fully concentrating on the road and I think that it should be a requirement if you want to drive.

Not every driver is perfect. Even though I believe myself to be a safe driver, there are always things I can do to be better. Changing music is something drivers often do, and although it only takes your concentration away from the road for a millisecond, it still can be a factor in traffic accidents. To avoid this I would implement the use of voice activated commands, so that drivers can continue to drive unimpeded. I believe everyone is guilty of driving while tired at some point in their lives and it is a product of the over-worked society we live in. I try to avoid this as much as possible, but it’s important to realise when you are tired and either don’t start your journey or take frequent breaks. Talking about drivers education with my friends and colleagues would help all of us to become safer drivers. It’s not something often talked about in general conversation and opening up to others about how you stay safe could educate them on how to better themselves in this field and it would help all drivers.

Reference List

Alvarez, L. and Colonna, R. (2020). Characteristics of a Technology-Based Intervention for Young Drivers’ Hazard Perception: A Delphi Study. Journal of Transport & Health. 19: 100951.

Berg, H.Y. (2006). Reducing Crashes and Injuries Among Young Drivers: What Kind of Prevention Should we be Focusing On? Injury Prevention. 12: i15-i18.

Bilban, M. (1997). Road Traffic Accidents Caused by Elderly Drivers. Collegium Antropologicum. 21: 573-583.

Castro, C., Padilla, J.L., Doncel, P., Garcia-Fernanez, P., Ventsislavova, P., Eisman, E. and Crundall, D. (2019). How Are Distractibility and Hazard Perception in Driving Related? Role of Driving Experience as Moderating Factor. Applied Ergonomics. 81: 102886.

Chen, C. and Xie, Y. (2014). The Impacts of Multiple Rest-Break Periods on Commercial Truck Driver’s Crash Risk. Journal of Safety Research. 48: 87-93.

Farmer, C.M., Braitman, K.A. and Lund, A.K. (2010). Cell Phone Use While Driving and Attributable Crash Risk. Traffic Injury Prevention. 11(5): 466-470.

Mayhew, D.R. and Simpson, H.M. (2002). The Safety Value of Driver Education and Training. Injury Prevention. 8: ii3-ii8.

Peck, R.C. (2011). Do Driver Training Programs Reduce Crashes and Traffic Violations? – A Critical Examination of the Literature. IATSS Research. 34(2): 63-71.

Powell, N.B., Schechtman, K.B., Riley, R.W., Li, K. and Guilleminault, C. (2002). Sleepy Driving: Accidents and Injury. Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. 126(3): 217-227.

Regev, S., Rolison, J.J. and Moutari, S. (2018). Crash Risk by Driver Age, Gender, and Time of Day Using A New Exposure Methodology. Journal of Safety Research. 66: 131-140.

Vanlaar, W., Robertson, R., Marcoux, K., Mayhew, D., Brown, S. and Boase, P. (2012). Trends in Alcohol-Impaired Driving in Canada. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 48: 297-302.

Williamson, A., Friswell, R., Olivier, J. and Grzebieta, R. (2014). Are Drivers Aware of Sleepiness and Increasing Crash Risk While Driving? Accident Analysis & Prevention. 70: 225-234.

Wilson, C., Willis, C., Hendrikz, J.K., Le Brocque, R. and Bellamy, N. (2010). Speed Cameras for the Prevention of Road Traffic Injuries and Deaths. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 11.