In the Driver’s Seat – Effects of Driving Laws

Emersyn Cortner – In the Driver’s Seat

Driving is a very scary thing, especially with the death rate due to vehicular accidents. Just about 34,000 people die a year at the hands of motor vehicle accidents. Because of this, having good driver education is so important, in order to drive well and safely you need to understand the road, signs, how the vehicle works, and so much more. In any situation, not having the correct level of education on the topic can end in you not doing well or failing at the task… in terms of driving, failure would be getting into an accident. If someone has a good driver’s knowledge then that simply means they will drive safely and prevent accidents from happening.

One simple step that can be taken to reduce the number of driving related deaths (on top of providing sufficient driving education) would be sufficient law enforcement. In so many areas, road rules are so lightly enforced that people do not feel the need to follow road laws or practice road safety. So, if we simply enforced these laws more heavily (like using a turn signal for example) people would follow these laws more, resulting in safer driving and safer roads. I am personally terrified to drive. One reason is that I know that most experienced drivers do not use turning signals, so the second I get close to a car in a lane next to me I am overcome with anxiety that they are going to attempt to turn into my lane and hit me, this is just one driving fear of mine among many others, most of which are due to the fact that I know most other drivers to not follow the rules of use driving “etiquette”.

Personally, I have been in two very minor accidents, one being at someone else’s fault, the other being from a deer. Neither of which were traumatic or damaging in any ways, but the one that was due to another driver is just one more example of people not paying attention on the road because road rules (like being on a phone in a car) are not being enforced correctly so they feel okay to ignore them. On top of this, I have also witnessed plenty of accidents.

For me to be a better driver, I can simply do all of the above. I can go through the process of getting a sufficient driving education (which I have already done). I can also simply make sure to follow road rules… for example, buckling up, not being on my phone, using turn signals, etc. I can also just make sure to use my observational skills and watch others around me who might not hold road safety as important as I do.

In conclusion, there are many relatively simple things we can do to ensure safety of everyone on the roads. Some of which we already have, but just need to enforce a bit better. Accidents are sometimes very preventable things, that simply do not take the time to prevent.