Today many citizens in America, and around the world, are dependent on driving. Without car transportation many people would not be able to go about their daily lives. But do we really realize all the risks and dangers that come with driving from point A to point B? Do we really take driving seriously in everyday matters? Accidents are something that we don’t want to happen to anybody. Accidents occur every day by careless driving or really by an accident. Driving school is meant to teach all future drivers rules and regulations to help them prevent future accidents. Even after that, we still see people multi-tasking while driving like finishing getting ready, and having important conversations via text messaging. My goal is to point out to those drivers who may be overconfident, under confident, unknowledgeable, or just simple careless how to make the road a safer place to be. Elderly people have been driving since 1950, or even earlier than that. But it’s a new era with new minds on the road and people are getting taught new things about on how to drive better. Accidents have been occurring more often every year due to bad driving. “Statistics show that older drivers are more likely than younger ones to be involved in multi-vehicle crashes, particularly at intersections”. (NHTSA)
This topic is serious and is sometimes left untouched and not thought about because it is something hard to fix. People often do not realize that the most accidents and deaths that happen through transportation, like plane, boat or train, happen through driving vehicles. This is topic came to my attention when I saw my uncle get into a accident at the age of 70 years old due to a left turn. I researched this topic to help people understand that driving is not a joke. It’s a life or death situation every day, even with the slightest mistake, or wrong judgment, can have your life ruined, or someone else’s. I researched the topic on how people get into accidents and the age group. A lot of my results came to show that teens and elderly people are more likely to get into an accident. Teenagers are more likely to get into an accident because they are still new to being able to drive on their own, and enjoy showing off their ‘skills’. Older people start to have slower motor skills and bad judgment. “Many of them suffer from health problems including hearing loss, vision problems such as glaucoma and cataracts as well as mild forms of dementia” (Zagata 1). I learned that elderly people can reduce the rates of accidents in the world just by getting more knowledge about on how to drive.
I took my research into further details, not just by looking out on the road and searching the facts on the computer, but by interviewing someone that teaches driving for a living. I took a trip down to the Advanced Driving Academy were they help young teens prepare to drive on the road. I talked to the manager of the driving school Ronald Strubbs and I talked about my topic with him. He was very interested on the topic and it wasn’t the first time he heard about this topic. In fact, he found it so important to change the way people drive that he opened up his own school. This topic has been going on for a while now but no one has taken those words to actions yet. Mr. Strubbs is also in his elderly ages and he doing fine but he recommends people to be aware of the drivers around them. He said “You can improve your driving, but you can’t improve the drivers around you” (Strubbs).
The future is here for us to take control on what we plan on doing to fix the problems of unsafe driving. With this, it will dramatically change life on the roads, and potentially make the society a better place for everyone. Everyone have ideas on how to fix this problem, but we do not realize how hard it is to put these ideas into affect. During the interview with the Mr. Strubbs, we spoke about starting a one-day driving class that quickly re-teaches seniors some helpful tips and rules of the road. This is helpful in that it will refresh their minds and could teach them something they never knew was a law. Also, elderly people should also get a regular check up on their vision, hand coordination, and also anything else that would affect their driving skills. Driving lessons are the most helpful thing we can do for many elderly people. We do not know if it will work or not, and of course it takes a lot of time and work before anything like that could ever start up. It can help realize that is a tragic to see on the roads and it get more knowledge into them so they can carry it on. Knowledge is one thing that many people lack, but with just more help from others people can realize that it’s a better for the society. At this point, something needs to be done to prevent the rapid growth of driving accidents, and the more people that are aware of the situation, the better.
In conclusion, accidents are a life and death situation everyday for many people that are driving on the road. Since the world has become so reliant on driving, and people do it so often, they forget the risks that are involved. Even with a simple drive around the subdivision, people drive carelessly. Every person that becomes aware of the problem is a person more that will take driving seriously. This is why we should spread the word about the risks, and hopefully one day seniors will have to take part in something to improve their driving in order to continue driving. Elderly people are the main target that we need to catch the public with. Accidents have become a big risk factor in society, we drive everyday to from one place to another and with one simple mistake your life is in danger and the people that are involved in the accident. To sum it up, elderly people should be aware of the risk of driving on the roads and should take responsibility on how to improve their driving skills for a safer environment.
Works Cited
NHTSA. "Older Drivers, Elderly Driving, Seniors at the Wheel." Smart Motorist. 14 May 2008. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
Stubbs, Ronald. "Driving Safe." Interview by Samir Patel. In Person.
Zagata, Darlene. "The Hazards of Elderly Drivers." Associated Content. 1 Feb. 2007. Web. 8 Dec. 2009.
