Striving to drive better

The importance of driver’s education is extremely important in reducing the number of accidents and accidents that cause death in driving. Driver’s education teaches us how to read the signs we see on the road. It teaches us how to respond to the traffic lights we see. When can we turn right on red? When do we need to look out for cars merging into our lane? There are so many street warnings to be aware of. We need to know about the rules of the road when we are driving on the highway, when we are driving by construction or a police stop, and what to do when we hear the sirens of a police car, fire truck, or ambulance. Without this knowledge we endanger not only ourselves, but also the other driver on the road, the police man who is pulled over to the side, the ambulance trying to speed around traffic, and so many more people who are doing their job in the area where we are driving.

Causes of auto deaths include speeding, paying little attention to the road, too many distractions, unknowledgeable driving, and angry driving. Speeding is a huge problem on the roads now a days. Especially in Houston. If I go the speed limit I am being passed up right and left. This is not safe. I want to stay with the traffic flow, but the traffic flow is speeding. So, if we could slow the traffic flow down close to the actual speed limit it would be easier to stay with the flow and not be speeding.

So, steps to decreasing these auto accident deaths would be to improve in these areas. The use of cell phones while driving is the single worst invention for safe driving I can think of. I know many states have outlawed using your phone while driving unless in hands free mode. Some have outlawed it completely. This would be good to do across all of the states. However, managing this is not easy. People texting and driving, picking their music by looking at their phones, checking the map. It would be really great if our cell phones did not work while we were in the car. That way there would not be a desire to pick it up.

Unknowledgeable driving is something that could be helped by requiring yearly driving tests. Just on the most important safety areas of driving. Then people would be forced to review the laws yearly to keep them fresher in their minds.

Angry driving. What can I say about that? There are so many things people can get angry about while driving. Traffic, issues from their day, the night before, fights with loved ones. There are an endless amount of reasons people may drive angry. It is not realistic to stop any of that. What is realistic is to set the mood when driving to focus on driving and not these other issues. Maybe play classical music or some other soothing sounds while driving. Reframing the driving situation so that you are kind on the road to the fellow drivers instead of being aggressive to get where you want to go is key for this situation.

I have been in a car accident with my mom where she was on the freeway driving in stop and go traffic. She leaned down to her purse, looking away from the road for a very quick second, and before she could look up she had rear-ended the car in front of her. Why did she need her chapstick right then? That was a distraction that could have stopped that accident from happening. She learned though. Insurance went up, her car was totalled. These things caused lots of financial suffering and from that she came out of the situation much more focused on having less distractions.

I can improve on all of these situations discussed in order to be a better and safer driver. I am aware of them and that is half of the battle. So, just focusing on not answering that text, paying attention to the signs and the vehicles around me will help to decrease any accidents that could happen. I can also do the same when I am with my family or friends. I can navigate the map for them so they can focus on the road. I can talk to them about what is making them angry so they can focus on the road. I can encourage them to be friendly to the drivers around them. Being a good influence as the passenger can help the driver improve their driving habits.