According to you, what is the number one cause of death between people of ages 5 and 27?
If you are thinking it is some medical condition, think again.
Surprisingly, driving is the number one cause of death and of injury.
Now, you might be thinking, as humans are evolving, so is their technology, and cars are becoming safer and safer, every day. But why is it that driving still remains to be the number cause of death? It might look like a part of it is related to speeding, and driving fast. It really isn’t. In fact, when roads are constructed, they are constructed in such a way that cars can move fast, because the irony is, everyone is always in a hurry.
Take highways for instance. Highways are made so that people can cover long distances in shorter spans of time. But ironically again, we hear about so many fatal accidents happening on highways.
Now, to reduce road accidents, the government and the drivers, both need to collectively take action. Government needs to strategize new practices, and we as drivers, need to follow them. To aid the process, I have enlisted some practices below. Let’s dig in!
1. Raising speed limits
The reason why drivers move to dangerous back roads, and end up as casualties is because all the safe roads have very low speed limits. It will be wise to raise the speed limits in safe roads.
This will attract drivers to take safer routes, and even speed to the given limit. This practice is worth doing because not only will it reduce accidents, but is also very easy to implement.
2. Public Awareness on drunk driving
Now, more than half the road accidents that happen, happen because the driver is driving drunk. Reducing the number of drunk drivers will reduce the number of road accidents significantly. For that, roadblocks can be really helpful.
Other than that, public awareness in the form campaigns amidst the general public can also help communicate the message. The government can also contact the bars on highways and seek their help for spreading the message.
3. Better roadway lighting
Why do more accidents happen during the night, rather than the day? One part may say it’s because more people are drunk at night, but the major reason is poor visibility, especially at road intersections.
This plays such a big role in road accidents, that even though majority of driving happens during the day, most accidents happen during the night. So, installing better roadway lighting can go a long way in reducing road accidents happening every day.
4. Better driving conditions
Is it the rains, or the bad weather that cause the roads to crumble down, or pot holes? Absolutely not. Poor roads, cause poor roads. Nothing else.
So, for your driver’s safety, you need to improve the road conditions, and have a better source of precast concrete, like, https://civilmart.com.au/.
5. Fix Bad Intersections
You can do everything on this list correctly but a bad intersection that is usually too sharp than what is needed. You may see so many highways with so many sharp intersections that requires the drivers to change directions and angles too frequently.
It’s a great idea to work on these intersections and rebuild the highways, if needed.
6. Eliminating frequent stops and pauses
Highways and roads are to drive, and not to stop. The more you have your drivers to switch between speeds of 0 and 50, the more are the odds of accidents. This includes reducing traffic signals, tolls, crosswalks, and more.
Of course, you cannot eliminate them in totality, but for instance, moving tolls to end of roads is a good start. You can also consider crosswalks and signals, reducing the total number of stops.
Over to you…
You are just one accident away from a completely different life. So, drive safe, and be careful. Don’t just stop there. Try and spread the message to your loved ones too. Communicate the risk factor of rash and fast – I am sure you don’t want to lose any of them to fatal accidents.
