Implementing and Encouraging Safe Driving

At some point in their lives, most people drive. Whether it’s a car, truck, SUV, van, semi truck, commercial vehicle, emergency vehicle, or bus, most people drive. At sixteen in Ohio, driving is an important rite of passage, a taste of the first real freedom and independence for many teenagers. However, with that freedom comes the specific responsibility of safe driving. Many high school students experience pulling out of a parking space in their school’s parking lot and hearing rowdy student drivers who just got their license, honking and driving like maniacs. It’s a dangerous and daunting time. Educating drivers is crucial to ensuring safe driving and travel.

First of all, learning, knowing, and adhering to all the laws of the road is an important part of driver’s education and an essential aspect of reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving. It is very dangerous to send new drivers onto the road without any knowledge of the numerous rules of the road, especially the ones that don’t appear on signs. Through driver’s education, people will be able to adapt and learn as they prepare to drive safely. Additionally, traffic laws fluctuate among drivers from different countries or states. Drivers should be accustomed to and learn the laws for not only their specific location but other locations in which they travel as well to keep everyone safe on the road. In short, driver’s education is important for drivers to both know and abide by the laws of the road to keep both themselves and others safe and ultimately reduce the number of deaths as a result of driving.

Drivers may not realize the risk they pose when they are distracted on the road. Dr. Michael Pines, an Injury Lawyer for Pines Salomon Injury Lawyers, APC, wrote an article titled “Top Causes of Car Accidents: The 25 Leading Causes of Accidents on the Road” in which he reviewed and listed attributes, which can lead to death while driving. Pines states the number one reason for car accidents is distracted driving, followed by speeding and drunk driving (Pines). For example, running red lights, speeding, and drowsy driving can all be remedied if the driver focuses on driving and not on other distractions, such as friends in the vehicle and/or phone usage. While distracted drivers may feel their driving is safe, they are actually making dangerous and potentially deadly mistakes. The American Psychological Association (APA) wrote an article titled, “Multitasking: Switching Costs” in which they debunk multitasking, stating when people are “multitasking,” their brains really are just switching between two different tasks extremely quickly, precipitating the brain to focus on neither task (APA). Therefore, when people drive while using their phones, their full attention is neither on driving nor their phone. As one can see, it is impossible to multitask, and so called multitasking leads to distracted driving, a dangerous catalyst for an accident.

A proposal to end distracted driving and consequently reduce the number of deaths resulting from driving includes both educating people as well as adults such as parents or guardians modeling the importance of giving one’s full attention to driving for the entirety of the route rather than alternating one’s attention between driving and other distractions such as passengers, phones, blaring music, etc. Parents should lead their children by example by keeping their full attention on the road while driving and refrain from phone usage, blaring music, and potential distractions with passengers while driving. If children witness their parents using a phone while driving or blaring their music, they may believe they, too, can use their phone or blare their music, which leads to distracted driving and consequently becoming more accident prone. Furthermore, parents can pull off the road in safe parking spaces to dispel potential distractions, which may result from engaging with passengers. Doctor Huiqing Qiu and his co-authors wrote an article titled “The Integrative Effects of Leading by Example and Follower Traits in Public Goods Game: A Multilevel Study,” which was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology and later published on the website of the National Library of Medicine. In their article, they state, “Our findings suggest that both leading by example and personal traits significantly influence cooperation but on different levels” (Qiu et al.). If parents lead by example and show their children how to properly and safely drive, then their children will be likely to imitate such behavior. However, leadership through example alone doesn’t always work. Parents should also have recurrent conversations with and encourage their children to maintain their focus on driving and the road and not to use their phones while driving. Additionally, parents can use example leadership and encouragement to stress the importance of following the speed limit and refrain from alcohol consumption before and while driving. Attentive, safe driving behavior modeled by parents or guardians as well as parents having conversations with their children regarding safe driving behavior and expectations will deter distracted driving in younger drivers and thus contribute to the reduction of deaths resulting from driving.

Refraining from alcohol consumption altogether will help new drivers in the long run. According to Dr. Pines, driving while intoxicated is the third most common cause of all car accidents. He states, “When you drink, you lose the ability to focus and function properly” (Pines). Losing focus and function is not only dangerous when operating a motor vehicle, but it’s also dangerous when talking to people and making everyday life decisions. It is very easy for people to get into situations they should have and likely would have avoided, had they been sober. If parents refuse to allow their children to drink until the legal drinking age, monitor their children, and encourage and expect their children to remain sober, then their children will be less likely to cause accidents due to intoxicated driving and thus reduce deaths resulting from driving.

In my own personal experience, I have been involved in a minor car accident with a woman hitting me from behind when I was stopped in a street awaiting the clearing of oncoming traffic with my left turn signal engaged (she apologetically admitted she was not paying attention), but more importantly, I have first hand witnessed dangerous driving everyone should avoid. Whenever a certain relative in my family drives, she often rides very close to the bumper of vehicles in front of her and exceeds the speed limit. Such practices are dangerous on many accounts. In driver’s education, we learned one should maintain a two to three second distance between oneself and the car in front. All that would have to happen for an accident to occur is for a child or animal to dart into the road, and the car in front to slam on its brakes suddenly. My relative could get into a bad accident simply because she does not maintain the recommended distance between the vehicles and could either be seriously injured, die, or harm or cause the death of others due to reckless driving. Additionally, the worst accidents occur at high speeds because the driver has less control over the vehicle, where increased velocity and force is involved. If my relative is driving 70 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone and hits the back of someone else’s vehicle, both parties would likely be seriously injured and their vehicles likely totaled, all because my relative was driving too fast and too close to another driver. Because I’ve experienced the reckless driving of another first hand and because I’ve also experienced my parents having been in a car accident in which they were hit by a car running a red light and both cars were totaled, I try to be more vigilant in adhering to the speed limit, maintaining my focus and attention to driving, as well as maintaining a safe two to three second distance behind other vehicles.

In conclusion, as I strive to grow in being a responsible, safe driver, I will stay focused and free of distractions while I drive, be attentive to my own driving as well as other drivers I come in contact with, and follow the laws of the road. Accidents can happen on the road resulting from our own and others’ choices, and it is my responsibility to make sure I do my part in staying safe as well as educating and encouraging others to drive safely. When I stay focused and refrain from phone usage and other distractions while driving, I am more aware of myself and other drivers as we journey to our destinations. Because of the legal drinking age, I cannot drink alcohol currently, and I don’t plan to begin. Alcohol consumption has many consequences for the body, but its consequences while driving could lead to taking another’s life, which is definitely not worth the risk. Additionally, I can do my part to be a safe and selfless driver and keep others safe by following the speed limit and maintaining a safe following distance. The preceding aspects are important in maintaining safe driving and travel not only for myself but also for those I share the road with.