Make America Safe Again

 

Driving
is an integral part of many Americans’ daily lives. From commuting to
work to going out for a slice of pizza, driving is a necessary
activity for people. This activity is so standard that many people
become desensitized to just how dangerous the activity can be. As an
individual, it is impossible to control how other people will drive.
This simple fact means that there is no such thing as risk free
driving. However, as a nation, there are many actions we can take in
order to reduce the number of driving related deaths in America.

 

One
of the best actions we could take as a nation is to increase the
drivers ed that is required to obtain a license. It is vital
that people not only know the laws of the road, but the most common
way driving can turn fatal. For example, people must learn about the
dangers of driving while sleep deprived or how to properly drive in
poor weather conditions. It is imperative that new drivers learn
skills and information to prevent accidents. Good drivers ed
would help reduce the number of driving deaths in the categories
where accidents occur because the person lacked the skill or
knowledge to drive safely. This leads to the next category of
accidents; accidents that are caused by people refusing to follow the
laws. 

 

It
is widely taught that it is dangerous to drive while under the
influence or while using a cell phone. However, these are still some
of the most common causes of accidents. While it is possible that a
select few are oblivious to the law, it can be inferred that many
people simply do not care. The only ways to get people to care more
is to enforce driving laws more often, or to raise the punishment for
breaking the law. This can be shown true though the law of demand. As
the price of something goes up, the demand does down. As the price of
breaking the law goes up (higher fines or prison time) the demand
goes down (number of people breaking the laws).  

 

 

As
an individual, I think that the best way to become a safer driver is
to practice defensive driving. This includes things like not driving
in peoples’ blind spots, knowing where you are going before you
start driving, looking farther down the road, and clearing the
intersection before crossing. Ideas like this can be shared with
others in order to help reduce accidents and driving related deaths. 

 

Personally,
I have never been in an accident while I was driving, but I was a
passenger in an accident while my dad was driving, and it was an
extremely scary situation. The driver of the other car ran through
the red light and hit us because he was texting. This experience
further proved to me that the actions previously mentioned (or ones
similar) must be taken in order to help make our nation’s roads a
safer place.