Horseless Carriages Shouldn’t Be Bumper Cars

I have always wanted to drive! From the time I was little, I’d consciously watch the driver in the car and pepper them with questions: “What does that sign mean?” “Why are the lines on the road dotted here, but not over there?” “Why can’t you pass this person?” “Why does it say limit on the speed sign? Does that mean you can go as slow as you want?” My drivers would most often respond to my questions with patience and well-educated answers; teaching me not only the rules of the road, but safe judgment and assertive decision. These experiences taught me a lot! Even so, when it came time for me to drive, there was much I didn’t know. Like many things in life, driving is risky, and mitigation is necessary! A whopping 1.35 million die on the roads in a given year (CDC). We can reduce risk by people learning thoroughly, and states and people taking every measure they can to be safe.

When people learn [properly] how to drive, and choose to drive that way, there are fewer accidents. I have the best memories of driver’s education. My teacher was engaging, and I soaked up the information he gave us eagerly. He was smart too: everyone learned because his teaching was vivid, and in no way boring. He’d joke around enough that us teenagers were engaged, and mix it with enough information that we learned everything we needed to. He showed us numerous videos–from people badly messing up parallel parking, to the consequences of road rage, to nasty car wrecks that shook us in our seats. He effectively got across all of the rules of the road, and drove home the most important habit needed to drive–assertive defensive driving. A certain amount of fear in this case was healthy. Despite the fact that kids between 16-19 are more likely to get in accidents (CDC), none of my class has gotten in a wreck to date, and it’s been two years.

My Great Grandmother is turning 100 this year. She never took driver’s education. She learned to drive, from her husband, in a Dusenhalf (because her husband didn’t want anything else to crush her). Then going on to drive for the military in WWII. She’s never been a great driver, she has been very precarious on the road. She hasn’t died yet, but she also doesn’t drive anymore. Understandably, she’s been in quite a few accidents: She would often pull out in front of people, and she once drove down a train track thinking it was a road. According to a research project done by NIH, taking drivers education improves skills “such as performance, self-perceived driving abilities, [and] behind-the-wheel driving performance,” but there isn’t much evidence to prove that it causes less traffic accidents. When you take driver’s education, it is not guaranteed that you learn you drive safely, however, we assume that somebody who does, is more likely to learn better, and hopefully has a lifetime of safe driving ahead.

Laws and regulations help. Steps have, can, and are being taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving. Over the decades many car regulations have been put in place: seatbelts, speed limits, car stipulations. Car manufacturers strive to create safe cars. In the next few decades, they hope to have fine-tuned self-driving cars (this is predicted to lessen traffic accidents tremendously)(NHTSA). The increase in public transit, such as the metro and bus system, will lessen the deaths too, because fewer people will be on the road. States strive to maintain safe roads—keeping up on repairs, assessing proper speed limits, and monitoring the flow of traffic. They also make laws concerning younger drivers (who have more risk); for the first half year I drove, it had to be with a parent, and then for the next year I had a curfew and a passenger limit.

Things are improving: people’s bad habits are improving (AAA (Traffic Safety Index)). People can and do make efforts to drive safer. Although driving during the hours of daylight could reduce accidents, it’s not really feasible to ask people to change their lifestyles of working, eating out and going to the movies or clubs, etc, just to not drive at night. Many accidents happen during the day as well: just this week, a good friend of mine was in a head-on collision with a driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel! If people make the effort to be well-rested, accidents like this one can be avoided. BE COMMITTED to making conscious assertive and defensive choices, to learn how to drive in risky and high-stress conditions, this will help reduce accidents. Distracted driving largely contributes to traffic-related deaths (AAA), and unfortunately, it is commonplace. It’s considered almost “cool” to be able to multitask while driving, similar to it being “cool” to have the capacity for more shots of alcohol than everyone else, or to do drugs. This is a dangerous norm. Peer pressure is real! It pressures people to do bad things. In the same way though, it pressures people for good: according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic safety, in the year 2020, “[people] were more likely to perceive social disapproval and less likely to [engage] in most of the unsafe driving behaviors.” When we normalize good driving it positively pressures others to follow safe measures. My parents are usually pretty good about making sure they’re focused on the road—and I’ve tried to appropriate that example. However, even they at times are more distracted than they should be, and over my years of sitting in a car and observing drivers, I have witnessed many careless acts: getting distracted by the radio/aux cord, texting between looking at the road and their phone, or trying to find something lost in the chaos of the car. Even the passengers, a lot of the time, are distracting! I will admit, sometimes these actions feel unavoidable! Solid preventative measures can be taken: don’t drive when you’re tired or sick; put your phone on driving mode; set up your music beforehand; strive to have a clean space; decide to pull over for big distractions; drive with a responsible passenger to take care of things that pull your attention from the road—think of how much easier it is to drive if/when all of your passengers are proactively helping you to be a good driver: taking care of distractions, monitoring noise, keeping you in check. Have the bravery to not drive while you’re not up to it, or when the conditions perpetrate risk!

Driving is a useful skill. It can be very fun and enjoyable! It has its risks, though.The further safety measures are developed; the more you and I strive to limit distractions, make a conscious effort to pay attention and be defensive and assertive drivers; and the more we as a nation normalize safe driving—the fewer deaths we will have to suffer.

Works Cited

AAA. “Effectiveness of Distracted Driving Countermeasures:.” AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, March 2022, https://aaafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/22-1066-AAAFTS-Distracted-Driving-Research-Brief_v2.pdf. Accessed 30 March 2022.

AAA. “2020 Traffic Safety Culture Index.” AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, October 2021, https://aaafoundation.org/2020-traffic-safety-culture-index/. Accessed 30 March 2022.

CDC. “Global Road Safety.” CDC, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 14 December 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/global-road-safety/index.html. Accessed 30 March 2022.

CDC. “Teen Drivers: Get the Facts | Motor Vehicle Safety.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 12 October 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/teen_drivers/teendrivers_factsheet.html. Accessed 30 March 2022.

NHTSA. “Automated Vehicle Safety.” United States Department of Transportation, https://www.nhtsa.gov/technology-innovation/automated-vehicles-safety. Accessed 30 March 2022.