Hello Inky Buds, if you go on the news apart from world issues and problems, you will most likely find a car accident or 2 in the mix of reports. Especially if you're living in the USA. In the USA alone, there are over 6 million car accidents each year! Today I will talk about the massive problem that car accidents play in the US.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), "There are more than 6 million car accidents in the United States each year. This amounts to one every 10 seconds. In addition, nearly 33,000 people die in car accidents each year, and 2.3 million are injured." These statistics make car accidents one of the leading causes of death and injury in the United States.
This may make you wonder why they are so common in the USA. Well, there are many reasons as to why driving safely is less and less unlikely. A big factor is distracted driving, which could be because of many things. Phones are immediately one of the causes, but other things also distract many drivers. People are too busy looking at their phones, or not paying attention to the road. People do things like engaging with the passengers, or reading documents, which calls for the attention that is needed to drive.
This isn't the only cause for car accidents, intoxicated driving also plays a big role in reasons car accidents happen. In case you didn't know already, you aren't supposed to operate heavy machinery when under the influence of alcohol. Unfortunately, many people do it anyways. It is not new knowledge that lots of things happen inside our bodies when we drink alcohol. It causes drowsiness, slurred speech, blurred vision, decline in perception, headaches, and clumsiness. Those are many red flags as to why you shouldn't drive drunk. They may even result in an accident. Alcohol is popular with people because of these effects. It supposedly makes people happier and more sociable. But this also feeds into alcohol addictions which also are a problem.
Another issue is speeding. Speeding is a huge problem since people have to go places in an allotted period of time. People have to go to work, or other important engagements, and if the road isn't going as fast as they want to, they eventually resort to speeding. They do risky and dangerous maneuvers like lapping cars when it is not recommended and squeezing into very tight spaces when there's traffic. People often ignore the speed limits, but they're there for a reason. You can't go 60 mph in a school zone when children are present, but even then, people ignore the speed limit.
Now, here is the last and one of the most common, reason why car accidents are so common: aggressive driving. This includes aggressive tailgating, failing to abide by the road signs, driving without a seatbelt, unsafe speeds, and a failure to yield. I had an unfortunate experience with a car accident myself. A person was driving aggressively and ran a stop sign, while driving at unsafe speeds.
Sadly, that is proof that even if you are following the correct road laws, you could still be in danger. You can't control what other people do, and they will put your life in danger because they decided to make one "exception" of running a stop light or speeding to get to work on time. Many people do this anyways, even with the knowledge of putting lives and passengers in danger. That is a problem, and I believe we need to give people a better education on how to drive. At this rate, teens and children are in danger, even if they're just passengers. A teen learning how to drive may pass away because somebody decided that it was okay to drive intoxicated that day.
Most people learn from their parents or a driver's ed class, but people are either too distracted or too reckless to abide by those road laws. We can't raise the consequences either, because that won't guarantee they will stop speeding for good. Even right now, people still go to prison because of their careless driving, but that doesn't guarantee that they will abide by the laws.
In short, people need to be more aware of the road and get off of their phones, free themselves of any distractions, and be aware to the consequences of driving dangerously. The only thing you can really do is have adequate insurance to help pay any medical bills and damage if you ever are in a car accident.
So put the phones down, be aware of the speed limit, and do not operate a vehicle when drunk. You could save lives by doing so, and you won't just be another statistic of deaths caused by car accidents. That goes for safe drivers too, if you aren't paying attention if the driver in front of you brakes suddenly, you'll end up in a collision. On the road you always have to be prepared for anything that the drivers around you will do. Some people may just shrug this off because they do it all the time, but that doesn't mean you're safe or you're supposed to do it. We are unaware of what the people around us are thinking or about to do, so we always have to be prepared in case you have to swerve out of the way of danger.
I hope that one day people will understand the errors of their ways and what could be lost because of their choices. If people keep going at this rate, the roads aren't going to be safe anymore for anyone. Please drive safely and wear your seatbelts.
I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope this encourages you to drive safely and makes you more aware of some dangers that can happen because of your choice, or someone else's.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you have a good day🏙️/night🌃!
(Stay tuned for the credits/sources.)
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