Paving a Safer Road to the Future

We live in the day and age of self-driving vehicles and electric cars. A time of great modernization and progressivity. We are on the precipice of technological greatness that breaks barriers around the world every single day. Some might go as far as saying that we might even see flying cars in our lifetimes. We live in a day and age where driving in general has also transformed into something greater than what many have thought it would be. Driving has gone from the singularity of serving as a method of transportation to evolving into a multifaceted progressive and exciting new realm of sport, art, passion, and transportation. Captivating millions and dragging them into the world of motorism. Evolution is a beautiful process, it invokes innovation, creativity, and progression, but as we grow in the industry, we must acknowledge the growing pains attributed to that industry, which are commonly associated with expansionism, being that modern solutions are synonyms with modern problems and vice versa; modern solutions solving modern problems. The problem is the increasing number of deaths as a result of driving, which means our solution should be preventative and effective.

I believe that as driving innovates we have to ideate and be creative and proactive in our approach to reiterating the life-saving value of a comprehensive and interactive driver’s education. By mandating in-person-in- digital presence drivers education we would add to the 16 percent of younger drivers saved from fatalities and with a more aggressive mandation, we would see a positive change in the percentage of lives saved due to having received a driver’s education. I believe that accessibility without knowledge breeds chaos. Education is the premise on which everything functions upon smoothly. The details do matter when you drive, and as you cruise down the highway listening to your favorite playlist for the month, feeling comfortable and secure trusting your driving ability, what do you do if a car juts out and stops, or there’s a flashflood and you don’t know the functionality of your emergency break because you’ve never hyper looped before? You could end up in serious trouble or harm’s way, which is why it is extremely important to set up better education steps that simulate a variety of situations and creates a successful curriculum that ensures students are able to handle the various difficulties that may approach them throughout their driving careers. There are around 40,000 deaths a year in car accident-related incidents, which is around 11.7 deaths per 100,000 people.

Simulating a wide variety of on-road instances to ensure the safety of new and young drivers is crucial to be proactive in guaranteeing the next level of preventative safety in the driving world. I believe that mandating stricter regulations regarding the attendance of more hands-on and interactive driving educational experiences is crucial to decreasing the number of deaths related to driving. A recent study showed that when the crash history of drivers is revealed we find that more than 99% of the drivers that are involved in automobile crashes have the skills to drive the car, however, they miss the skills to comprehend and use risk prevention patterns to help them make safe and educated decisions. I believe that mandating and instilling a more thorough driving educational experience is crucial to ensure road safety. I also believe learning and practicing defensive driving is something that should be taught and encouraged in driving academies. In this day in age, you have to worry about more than just your car when you are on the road, as distractive driving has increased by an alarming amount. The art of driving defensively is would combat the annual 10.8 % increase in deaths by an additional 23%.

As a young adult driver, you don’t always think about the amount of trust and responsibility that is put into the hands of your steering wheel. You are not just in control of your car, you are in control of the safety of yourself, any passengers, and the cars around you. Having driven with so many other young adult drivers, I know firsthand the euphoric feeling of being amped in the car with all of your friends cruising, but knowing how easy it is to make one careless mistake that catalyzes into something greater. Almost everyone I know has a story about a friend, or a friend of a friend who never lived to see graduation because they passed in a car accident, or have been left paralyzed in an accident. Sometimes it has been childlike irresponsibility and others a freak incident, but it has become far too common today for teens to hear of or be witness to the death of a friend and or acquaintance due to a careless action taken while behind the wheel, and this is why I am determined to better myself as a driver. I want to make sure that my generation and I are properly equipped to be able to be safe and defensive drivers.

Driving is a beacon to the masses with multiple meanings and concerns but no thanks to every Disney Channel or Nickoloden teen coming-of-age movie, driving is mostly associated with Freedom. When you turn 16 and if you or one of your friends has a car, then your young adult life just started. The taste of freedom is exciting and that is how the majority of young new drivers perceive what the ability to drive is, to be free. Just like Icarus, this flight or freedom is a privilege. It is endless accessibility and new possibilities fused together and wrapped up with a nice bow on one’s birthday or Christmas day, but learning how to use this “gift” or freedom is crucial and now extends to learning more beyond just how to drive. My school recognized this and offered a defensive driving course, which introduced the students to real situations that simulated incidents that might occur on the road. This course allowed us to learn how to use emergency breaks, crash in a safe less forcefully impactful way, and how to use the emergency breaks through lots of water safely. These courses prepared me when I was on the road and have more than likely helped save my life a couple of times. I truly believe that the hands-on immersive teaching I received would help thousands be more aware of how to defensively drive.

Conclusively, more education is always better, but when the outcome of receiving that education is life-saving it would be negligible to not consider using the resources available to help lessen the total of deaths as a result of driving. I found the more extensive driving education I received beyond driver’s ed to be invaluable information that should have already been included in the driver’s education system. It is time to look to the future and see the progressivity we want to be actualized and start to be the drivers of our own lives and take security into our own hands and see to a more immersive drivers program.

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