A Time-Tested Approach to Improving Driving Safety and Reducing Driving-Related Fatalities

“Mad Men” is a period television series that depicted the advertising industry in America from 1960-1970. During its fourth season, protagonist Don Draper wrote a letter to the New York Times entitled “Why I’m Quitting Tobacco.” It was a preemptive strike to protect the reputation of the advertising agency from its loss of a major tobacco client. It accurately portrays the shifting of American attitudes toward smoking.

In 1964, approximately 42% of adults in the United States regularly smoked cigarettes. Today, that same percentage is in the teens, and even lower for younger people. How did an activity romanticized everywhere from the movies to famous political leaders and athletes lose popularity so quickly? It was not easy and took a long-term, multi-faceted approach. First, it required public recognition that smoking was dangerous. Second, tax laws – “sin taxes” – were designed to discourage smoking. Next, airwaves were regulated, affecting how smoking was portrayed on television and in the movies. Then, rules were developed to make smoking in public much more difficult. Smoking was banned in workplaces and other publics spaces. Before long, anti-smoking campaigns dominated billboards and commercials, replacing ads that had promoted smoking.

What does this have to do with driving safety? A lot, because our approach to improving driving safety on roads could follow the successful approach of the anti-smoking crusade. In this movement, the first step was education. The government initiated a widespread advertising campaign that smoking was dangerous and contributed to death, which continues to date. Driver education can serve the same purpose. Public advertising can be used to inform drivers of the hazards associated with reckless or distracted, including texting, speeding or “road rage.” The risk of such activity is arguably greater than lung cancer because serious bodily injury or even death can be instantaneous. This message should be disseminated at local, state and federal levels to create the type of information campaign that has been so successful in reducing smoking.

Like the anti-smoking campaign, there are additional specific steps we can take to reduce the number of deaths on America’s roads. The approach here should also be multi-faceted. The first component, as noted above, should be education. This can take many different forms. Every state has similar requirements for new drivers to obtain a drivers’ license. These typically involve a written test, a driving test, and additional education for first-time drivers. Increased education of the potential risks of driving could begin with every written test including questions about the number of deaths on roadways and the reasons for those accidents. Instead of testing just basic knowledge of speed limits and road signs, every DMV test could include 20% of questions which concern dangers related to unsafe driving. This would help build awareness and a foundation for safer driving.

Reducing Americans’ use of tobacco required more than a warning label. Similarly, financial incentives can help improve road safety. Increased insurance discounts for individuals with good driving records will motivate people to drive more safely. In addition, federal funding for states could be tied to achieving targets for improved driving safety. This would encourage states to analyze where accidents occur, the reasons why, and to create policies which help reduce driving-related fatalities. If stretches of roadway are designed poorly or are frequent sites of accidents, they should be fixed. Where speed limits are not appropriate, they could be adjusted. The fundamental goal would be to create incentives which would reduce car accidents and consequent driving-related injuries and fatalities. Tax strategies could also help. Cars with poor safety records could have an additional excise tax. Automakers, who try to price their cars competitively, might find such taxes drive costs higher than required safety features and therefore be highly incentivized to design safer vehicles.

The strategy used for smoking can also be followed in other ways. Airwaves could be regulated to encourage safer driving. When any commercial, television show, or movie displays a car operating in a dangerous manner, it could flash a warning that the depiction is unsafe in real-life conditions. This may seem to be overkill; however, it follows the effective approach adopted by anti-smoking advocates. The most recent campaign to reduce smoking involved graphic testimonials in public service announcements. The person in the ad was sometimes unable to speak, wishing he or she could go back in time and never pick up a cigarette. These ads are visceral and compelling. Imagine if public service announcements featured an orphan, who has only brief memories of his mother, reading a text before the viewer hears the SMASH of a car. These types of strategies are aggressive but can be as successful as the anti-smoking advertisements.

“Do you want to build a snowman…” my siblings sang from the backseat. One block from our home, I experienced something so terrifying, I will never forget it. In a neighborhood with a speed limit of 20 miles per hour, the next thing I heard was a deafening CRASH. My car was broadsided near the rear, causing me to do a complete 360-degree spin and slam into a neighbor’s fence. The neighbor, outside watering her lawn, came up to me to say, “I saw it, the other driver was looking at his phone and ran through the stop sign!” Fortunately, I was not hurt, nor were my younger siblings. As a new driver, though, that moment shook me.

While not responsible for the frightening accident so close to home, it has made me think more about steps I can take to be a better driver. One is increasing my awareness while driving. Sure, I took drivers’ education, but the accident I experienced altered my outlook. Even in a residential area one block from my home, I have to be aware that people coming from a side street might ignore a stop sign. I must always drive as if other drivers are not paying attention to their surroundings or are driving distracted. In addition, I need to keep the promises I made to my parents when I obtained my license – when I am driving, I will keep my cellphone in my purse or the glove compartment.

Fatalities on America’s roads have declined in the past two decades for many reasons: education, safer cars, and better designed roads, to name a few. Still, we can do much more to reduce driving-related fatalities. Preventing avoidable driving-related tragedies is an important public goal. It is a goal America can achieve through coordinated efforts across various governments and agencies as well as increased promotion of individual responsibility.