Driver Education and Road Safety

In 2005 there were so many vehicle accidents that the total number of deaths from said accidents almost totaled more than how many casualties there were in World War 1. That’s right, one of the most devastating wars in history had the death count almost beaten by car crashes. That sounds crazy, but maybe you aren’t convinced because it’s not 2005 anymore. Ok, what if I told you that in 2020, there were 38,824 fatalities by car, which is more than the Korean war? That’s more than the War in Afghanistan, the War of 1812, the Iraq War, and the American Revolutionary War combined. The total number of vehicular fatalities is also increasing; in 2021, the count went up to 42,915. Driver education and safety are more important than ever; with the number of deaths skyrocketing, it’s only a matter of time until the number surpasses the death count of the first world war.

Many people attend driving school, but some teach themselves to drive instead and then take the driving test. The state should pay for things like driving school instead of the people. This would be a good idea because it promotes safer driving, as many people who take the driving test barely pass and so end up driving while not necessarily having the full grasp on how to drive. I’ve seen plenty of people out there driving that seem like they need to learn how the road works, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this were a massive factor in why there are bad drivers like that. Of course, there will always be bad drivers, no matter how much protection the state puts in, but at least this way, some people would learn stuff they wouldn’t have if they had the option to take the driving test right off the bat. Make driving school mandatory, and have the state pay for it; This would heavily decrease the fatalities from car crashes.

I won’t lie; I’ve been in an accident before, and believe me, it will shake you up. You’ll be stressed, angry, sad, etc. I was lucky enough that it was in a place that wouldn’t be too dangerous, just stupid and expensive. I was in a Taco Bell parking lot, driving to the drive-thru, and for some reason, I got distracted by either my phone or my radio. While I was distracted, I was also turning into the drive, and there was a yellow pole to the side that you could hit if you weren’t paying attention. As you would probably guess, I ran into the bar at five or ten miles per hour while distracted, but it did more damage to my car than you would expect. If I’m correct, it cost anywhere from five hundred to one thousand dollars to fix. I’m not sure because I was a high schooler then, so my mom ended up paying to fix it. Either way, it was very costly and could’ve cost more if I didn’t learn my lesson with a stationary pole in the Taco Bell parking lot instead of on a highway with oncoming cars.

What should you do if you see a road sign that says soft shoulder? Many people probably would need clarification on what that means, and that’s part of the problem. If you don’t know your road signs, how will you know how to react if something that you need help understanding pops up? Something we can do is make sure that we understand road signs; we could even look them up now and then to refresh our memory a bit. There are many other things that we can do to reduce the number. Small things still count, such as buckling up, or bigger things, such as not paying attention to your phone while driving. Distracted driving is a big problem, and the phone is not the only thing that can distract you; it could be messing with the radio, trying to eat something while driving, etc. Anything that takes your eyes off the road can end in tragedy, so remember not to get distracted while driving. We can decrease the number of deaths by studying traffic signs, practicing safety, and avoiding distractions.

I could always ensure I’m not distracted while driving, as evidenced by the story I told earlier; I learned quickly that distracted driving is no good. There are other things I could work on, too; even though I went to driving school, I’m not sure if I would remember what all the road signs mean, so I could brush up on my road sign knowledge. The best thing I could do is advocate for road and driving safety, such as in this essay I’m writing. I have not done much advocating for road safety in the past, but I also had no clue how bad the death rates from car crashes were. Overall, we could do many things to be better drivers and better advocates for road safety, including working on our driving practices and asking ourselves, “how safe am I when I drive?”