Driving Towards Saftey: How Drivers Education Saves Lives

One of my best friends, my cousin, moved away when I was little. She was a year older than me, and her sister, the same age as I was: 10. I remember being inside my mothers car, on my way home on the phone with my father. Once I got home she sat me down and explained to me that my cousin and her mother had passed away in a car accident on their way to school. The younger sister had thankfully survived with minor injuries, but still did not come out unscathed. They died because my aunt lost control of her vehicle on a dirt road that they were already so used to taking every morning. While some may call this fate, I feel that if my aunt had either been properly taught or taken the time to understand how to drive on different roads and had kept her guard up while driving, that this accident may have been avoided. This sentiment goes for anyone who can drive. Having a broad range of different driving skills, more awareness on road hazards, and knowing how to drive defensively could save many lives in any on-road situation.

A simple way to reduce vehicle related accidents is to avoid driving altogether. By using public transportation and other modes of travel like biking and walking, not only reduces the risk of vehicle related accidents, but it also reduces carbon emissions leading to a cleaner environment and less congestion on roads. Less people driving means less people who may cause an accident. If it is necessary to drive somewhere in a personal vehicle, then take the time to understand different natural hazards on the roads and take the necessary precautions. We as a country could and should implement a higher driver education standard that focused on developing defensive driving techniques, promoted safer driving skills, and what to do in case of an unavoidable situation. This could be ongoing all throughout one’s driving career, starting in sophomore year of highschool. Teens often tend to get complacent once they get used to driving for about a year, and that is when accidents start to occur. Even if they are following standard safety measures like putting away any distractions and wearing a seatbelt, they are inexperienced when it comes to being on the actual road and incidentally do not know how to react in an accident. While teens are naturally inexperienced, many adults who have been driving for a while get into accidents because they have too much trust in their road instincts, and are too confident in their skills as a long-term driver. Instead of just taking the road test every four years, stricter licensing and testing would limit the number of potentially dangerous drivers on the road. When I took my drivers test, I was done and out of the car in less than five minutes. An example of stricter testing could be requiring drivers to attend a driving safety class every two to three years, and a safe driving test to go along with the already implemented written and road test.

While stricter testing and higher education will greatly reduce many risks already, there will still be people who decide to ignore these safety precautions, and continue to drive both recklessly and carelessly. A good way to combat these scofflaws is to implement harsher punishments when they violate these terms. Instead of just a set amount for a fine, following Finland’s example, we could use disposable income as a basis for how much one would pay for a fine. Using the example of Jeff Bezos, if he were to be speeding fifty miles over the speed limit, a $150 fine would not make him bat an eyelid if he received it in the mail. To wealthy people like him, this minute amount of money would be more like a rite of passage. To them they wouldn’t be paying $150 because of speeding, they would be paying $150 to be allowed to speed. Along with this, anyone caught speeding should also be required to attend some sort of safety seminar as a reminder as to how they should be driving, and the money collected from these fines could also be used to fund the seminars along with other safety projects within communities such as improving the infrastructure. With the constant promotion of safe driving habits and stricter rules and regulations for those who are on the road, we can truly crack down on the number of vehicular accidents.

Today, technology is constantly improving in all aspects, including in safety. Vehicles are safer than ever, with technology that can detect when you are approaching an object too fast or too closely, cameras surrounding the car with a 360° view allowing you to see all around. Cars can even detect when you are drifting out of your lane and even recenter itself. But even with all these advancements, people still continue to drive distracted by looking at their phones or even being under the influence of some sort of substance, and no amount of safety advancements could truly prevent these sorts of people from getting on the road. The only way to stop them is to speak up. Speaking up when you see someone driving irresponsibly could save not only their life, but the lives of innocent people who are going about their business on the road. If you are in the car with someone, and they go on their phone while driving, ask them if you could do whatever it is they wanted to do on their phone for them, so they could keep their attention on the road. Try and do as much as you can in that situation so they can focus on the road. In the situation of someone driving under the influence, the best thing you can do for them is to either drive them to wherever it is they are trying to reach, or at least call them an Uber. Whenever in a big group, always have one person as a designated driver as a precaution. Situations like these are often unpredictable and can often escalate quickly from person to person, and all that can be done is to try and keep those who are incapable of driving off the road. It is often said that driving is probably the riskiest thing you may ever do in your life, but it is so common today that people often forget just how many people die each day because of unsafe driving. Driving is probably here to stay, and chances are that people aren’t ready to switch to just any mode of travel, so the best piece of advice that I can give to a driver is to just drive safely. Be responsible when operating a multi-ton vehicle.