The Four Steps for Safer Roads

During my first couple weeks in college, my life almost changed forever. I was driving on campus, and I had a green arrow to turn left. However, a pedestrian ignored the stop signal and stepped into the crosswalk. I did not look into the crosswalk until I was already in the intersection, but fortunately I was able to stop, all the drivers were paying attention, and everyone went home safely. However, all the way home I thought about how easily I could have seriously injured or even killed that pedestrian. This incident made me think a lot about safe driving and what steps we can take to make driving safer for everyone. In this essay, I will discuss how we can make driving safer through accessible driver’s education, harsher penalties for distracted driving, incentives for safety technology, and personal responsibility.

The first step in making driving safer is an accessible driver’s education class. A driver’s education class exists in high school, but it is currently very inaccessible to students who work or do after school activities because it is right after school and lasts for a long time. I argue that we need a hybrid class in which the academic portion is done online and practice is done in person. This strategy will reduce the amount of time students have to physically be in the classroom. Teachers can give a quick in person academic quiz at the beginning of the class to ensure students have a firm understanding of the concepts, and then they can spend the rest of their time teaching students behind the wheel. By offering accessible hybrid classes, more students would complete driver’s education classes and thus be better drivers.

The second step in my approach is the government making laws that impose harsher penalties on distracted driving, specifically texting and driving. Whenever I look over at someone who is drifting in and out of lanes or going an improper speed, they are usually texting. Currently, the penalty for the first offense of texting and driving in Florida is only 30 dollars. I would argue that the first time penalties for texting and driving should be increased to a 200 to 500 dollar fine and license suspension for a month. These penalties are well below the drinking and driving penalties, but they would still put some serious teeth behind Florida’s laws against texting and driving. The primary goal of this law would be deterrence and to send a message that texting and driving is something serious that has the potential to get people killed. With these kinds of consequences, people would think twice before picking up a phone while driving.

The third step is for the government to incentivize car producers to make new collision prevention safety features standard in their new cars. In the push towards self-driving cars, companies have made big leaps forward in technology that keeps drivers and pedestrians safe. These include features that help drivers stay in their own lanes, detect potential collisions, and even slow or stop the car in the case of a potential collision. Every new feature makes driving safer, and it should be the government’s goal to expand these technologies without drastically increasing the price of cars. One way to do this is offering tax breaks to companies who are willing to make these new safety features standard in their cars. This would allow people to have safer cars and not have to suffer increased prices for the technology. Another method that can be used is public relations campaigns that highlight companies who are willing to make these features standard in their cars. Drivers want to feel safe on the roads, and thus there is a higher probability that they would buy from these brands. Increased sales from these brands would hopefully drive other brands to add those safety features to remain competitive.

The final and most important thing that we need to do to make driving safer is to take personal responsibility for our driving. Every time we get behind the wheel, we need to recognize that we are operating heavy machinery that could kill ourselves and someone else if we do not act responsibly. If I had been distracted while driving in my story I told in the beginning, someone probably would be seriously injured or dead. I do my best to be a safe driver, but there are still several steps that I can take to improve myself and others. The first step that I have taken is to change my mindset about driving. Instead of viewing other drivers as obstacles, I see all drivers and pedestrians as part of a big team. I find it much easier to not get frustrated by pedestrians not looking before crossing or let someone merge into my lane because they are my teammate, and I’m helping them out by being aware. Another step that I can take is to be better about flipping my phone away from me while I drive. When it’s facing me, I sometimes get distracted for a moment by incoming messages, and I have to take the time while I’m driving to flip the phone around. To prevent this distraction, I should ensure that my phone is facing away from me when I start driving. A step I can take to help others become better drivers is to push back on dangerous narratives when I hear them. When I hear someone make a joke about driving under the influence or telling a story about careless driving, I cannot laugh or brush it off. Instead, I should push back with compassion and tell them that I care about them, so they should not do something that will endanger themselves or put them in a position to hurt others.

Overall, in this essay I have discussed how we can all be safer drivers through accessible driver’s education, harsher penalties for distracted driving, incentives for safety technology, and personal responsibility. Right now, driving is undeniably dangerous, so it is up to all of us to advocate for cultural and institutional changes to make the roads a safer place.