The Deadly Necessity

Leave it to human beings, the dumbest (yet smartest) species in the world, to incorporate dangerous tasks into their everyday lives. On the average day, roughly 70 million people operate an automobile for some length of time. Yet, in America, around 34,000 people die per year as a result of driving. Why don’t those numbers spark something in today’s society, and what steps can we take to help reduce the amount of deaths caused by automobiles? It’s undeniable that there is a necessity for transportation in today’s world, however, isn’t there a safer option than big machines that take months to learn how to use? No, at least not yet, although there may be a decreased need for them in the future as work from home jobs increase, and entire cities are built around the concept of walking to your destination. Unfortunately, the future is not here yet, and automobiles are still a problematic source of death across the globe.

From the very beginning of a future-driver’s driving lessons, they are introduced to the statistics that should make any logical person want to quit then and there. However, due to the societal norm of vehicles and the fact that walking is unrealistic in most situations, the student will take that risk and continue to learn the basics. The dotted line means you can pass, the red octagon means stop, and the lever to the left activates your turn signals. But what happens when you see a truck, in the opposite lane, swerving towards you? One would think driver’s education would cover topics like these, or at least give a disclaimer before you start the course that death may be a side effect of your ride to school. The change of driver education could single handedly decrease the amount of victims per year in automobile accidents, or perhaps bigger reminders of driver safety than the occasional sign on the side of the highway, flashing “Drive Safe” in bright orange dots. People forget information, it is a natural human characteristic, and reminders that drivers may literally be driving into suicide should be more common. There are, however, other steps we can take as a society to reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

While a person can only really control their own driving habits, people shouldn’t be afraid to be a “backseat driver,” especially when the driver could place multiple people in harm by doing something unsafe or illegal. People don’t like to be called out, which is why the term “backseat driver” has so much negative connotation surrounding it in the first place. However, bad driving deserves to be called out, and is one step a person can take to help end the global automobile crisis. Then again, a person can only control their own driving habits, so leading by example is another thing a driver should do. They need to make sure they’re doing what they can to keep themselves, and their passengers, safe on the road. With the rise of social media, there are other platforms that a safe driver can use to spread awareness about the risks of driving and the statistics to prove it. Anyone with more than zero followers has an audience, and doing something as simple as sharing an infographic to their story could possibly save someone’s life, or cause them to reflect on their own driving habits. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that a person’s unsafe driving can affect more than one victim at a time, it will affect families, friends, and even an average citizen that just so happened to witness the incident.

In the late 2010s, my drama director and her husband passed away after being struck head on by a drunk driver, being reckless on the roads at night. She was a teacher and role model to dozens of children, and he was a victim of cancer who was already in his last months. Both of their lives ended early, but everyone else’s lives paused, too. Her cast, made up of children of all ages, had to be given the tragic news as a reason for why the play was put on hold. Their family was left with grief and despair, and I have one friend that still becomes visibly upset and shaken whenever someone brings up her name. All of this, because a man made the choice to get into his car and hit the road after a night of drinking. Yes, transportation was still a necessity in that man’s situation, and it’s likely he didn’t have the resources to get his own ride. Depending on the year, apps like Uber or Lyft may not have been in service yet, but either way, those services cost money, and getting into his own car does not. More, free resources should have firstly been made earlier, but also been made available to specifically drunk drivers, and even sober people across the globe, as transportation is clearly a necessity in our society. It’s a necessity that doesn’t disappear, regardless of a person’s situation. Whether they don’t make enough income to afford a driving service, or they’re drunk, transportation should be made available in a low cost way.

Overall, automobiles aren’t something that can be avoided, as they are an undeniable necessity in today’s busy society. In the future, cities should be built for people, not cars, and we should find more accessible ways to transport ourselves from place to place, especially with rising prices in both gasoline and the automobile industry. Driver’s education should be used as a tool to continue to remind drivers that the habits they develop are risky and deadly, and those reminders should not be stopped after the first few lessons. People need to be told in any way possible that automobile accidents are not something that are only in the movies or TV shows, they happen in real life, and no Hollywood stunt scene can amount to the overwhelming guilt and tragedy it can cause in a person’s life. No one should have to go through those emotions, and the first steps to decreasing driving related deaths, begin with self awareness.