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An essay on causes of road accidents
An essay on causes of road accidents
Dangers of reckless driving essay
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Ever since the invention of the automobile, numerous efforts have been employed to try and improve its safety features. Judging by the current statistics, one could argue that driving has so far turned out to be a risky business. In actual fact, people of all ages and social status are considered to be in control of lethal weapons whenever they have to drive. According to the National Safety Council, it is estimated that more than 41,000 people lose their lives in road accidents annually and no less than 2 million more suffer from serious life threatening injuries (2009). Furthermore, it is estimated that at least 50% of the people killed in road accidents is as a result of their failure to adhere to safety measures such as wearing seatbelts while driving, driving under the influence, or careless driving (Ingalls, “Defensive Driving Strategies”). As an effect, huge losses occur with respect to life, injuries sustained, and damage to property.
Today, worldwide reports of the alarming road carnage statistics indicate that the same problem still persists as motorists continue to engage ...
Dangers on roadways is an issue that describes the discrepancy between perception and reality of road rage. The media, for some odd reason, tends to make road rage a huge controversial issue. As seen on talk shows from Oprah Winfrey to CNN, they reveal to people that road rage could happen at any time and to always be looking over your shoulder. These talk shows and news programs also put fear into our minds by explaining that most roadragers often use guns to kill or injure their victims. Glassner contradicts the media's speculations by stating that out of approximately 250,000 people killed on roadways between 1990-1997, AAA attributed that one in one thousand was an act of road rage (pg.5).
According to the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, "automobile crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 3 to 33, with 43,005 (118 per day) Americans killed in 2002 alone" (Clayton, Helms, Simpson, 2006). Worldwide, vehicle accidents consist of 1.2 millions deaths per year, "behind only childhood infections and AIDS as cause of death amount people aged 5 to 30 years old" (Clayton., 2006). The annual cost of road accidents is estimated about $518 billion"(Factor, Yair, Mahalel, 2013). The fact alone of being in a moving, heavy vehicle is a danger in itself but individuals that do not wear their seat belts, talk on the phone, text, and do other distracting behavior also put themselves in even more harmful situations.
“Prepare and prevent, don’t repair and repent chance takers are accident makers” (Quotegarden.com). Over the years, vehicles have become safer, and have been pushed to become more advanced and helpful. Safety systems are beneficial because they help avoid accidents, such as good steering, brakes, Traction Control and ABS.
...ture a risk-taking species. In ancient times we took risks just to eat. Later we took huge risks by setting out in little wooden ships to explore the earth's surface. We continued as we sought to fly, travel faster than the speed of sound and to head off into space. We rely on increasingly more complex equipment and constantly strive to design and manufacture faster and even more elaborate devices. It goes without saying that every effort is made to ensure our "safety"; to keep us from harm or danger. Every time you slide behind the wheel of your vehicle you are taking a risk. Driving is the riskiest activity in our lives. It is an inherently "unsafe" environment. The most perfect vehicles on the best designed highways on beautiful sunny days driven by fallible human beings crash into each other. The only way to drive "safely" (as we are all admonished to do!) is to learn more about the process. Learn more about your vehicle and how to maintain it; learn how to use your eyes to look far down the road; learn to spot problems before they happen; and also learn to deal with emergency situations. In most cases it's the human element that fails. After all, safe is only as safe does.
Collision affects the economy. (The average cost for car crashes is over millions of dollars annually; see Figure 1). The amount means more than numbers. It represents that some of our families and friends will never return home. In the field of emergency management, we cannot afford to be silent. It is time to make a stand to enforce motorists to pay attention on the road and change drivers’ unsafe behavior while driving behind the wheel of their vehicle. Saving lives do not have any monetary value.
Ninety percent of today’s car accidents are caused by bad developed driving habits. Of that ninety percent of accidents, they all could have been prevented. People usually do not realize that they even develop bad habits while driving until something happens. 3,500 deaths happen a day and the numbers are getting higher. Today, experts are using technology of many kinds to try to prevent these accidents and bad habits, but are not succeeding (Human error accounts for 90% of road accidents | Driver Risk Management Solutions | AlertDriving).
Humans take risks every day. Canadian statistics show that during the year 2010 there were approximately 123, 141 car accidents in which 2000 people had to suffer from death(1). Every
Nobody goes onto the roads with a hope to die, we all want to come home to your families. This will be if we drive safely. Safe driving should come from within us and it is very much possible to prevent the road crushes that are being reported every now and then, occurring from mere destructions (2). Safe
Defensive driving can save lives. It can turn a nonchalant call home into a terrifying call home. It is making the choice between stopping at a stop sign or stopping someone’s life. Defensive driving should be a part of everyone’s daily driving routine. If you practice defensive driving you can save yourself time, money, and a lot of headaches. It also benefits you in more ways than one.
Currently, the number of people who die each year in car accidents is equivalent to the death total if a 737 plane was to fall out of the sky every hour (newnrhri). For some reason, deaths from car accidents are not as alarming as a plane dropping from the sky, but the numbers match up. Society must find a way to decrease the amount of people who die on the road each year, and society has found a solution in autonomous vehicles. There are currently 2,309 patent filings for autonomous driving technology (oeihwfhd), and that number will continue to increase until the technology is perfected. Although the future use of self-driving cars is uncertain, the technology is here and should be embraced rather than feared.
The three-step Defensive Driving Course prevention formula is RUA. Recognize the hazard, understand the defense, and act correctly in time. The course wants the learner to be a defensive driver. What is defensive driving? Defensive driving is driving to save lives, time, and money in spite of the conditions around you and the actions of others. If you want to be a defensive driver you have to follow the “What If?” strategy, which means that the driver should always be aware of all the possible outcomes that might occur from a scenario. If you can analyze all the possible outcomes, you can be a safe driver and realize the danger or the safety of your actions. There are multiple factors that need to be taken into consideration when becoming a defensive driver.
India has the dubious distinction of reporting highest number of road fatalities in the world and the government says the prime reason is “driver’s fault”. During the year 2009, there were around 490,000 road accidents, which resulted in the deaths of 125,660 people and injured more than five hundred thousand persons in India.... Driver's fault is the prime reason, A.K. Upadhyaya, Secretary, Road Transport and Highways. The official number of deaths increased in 2010 to 130,000. The proportion of injuries to deaths remained unchanged at
“The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status, or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we all believe that we are above-average drivers” -Dave Barry, comedian. The number of accidents over the last ten years have drastically increased, drivers are paying less attention to the road itself. Many individuals behind the wheel of a car believe that their driving does not affect the road conditions, however it always will. The driving habits of today are catastrophic due to the reasoning that the driving will affect other lives through reckless or distracted driving, and disobeying traffic laws.
The human factor is a major cause behind traffic accidents (Åberg, 2001 ) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Driving practice, for example, driving in a high speed increases the fatality risk of a traffic accident (Garvill, Marell, & Westin, 2003). Traffic safety experts argues that fast drivers may not get the time to respond to unpredictable driving emergencies that would escalate the probabilities of traffic crashes (Farmer, Retting, & Lund, 1999). The number of road traffic accidents increase by 46% when the speed increases from 50 km/h to 55 km/h (Nilsson, 2000). An estimation given by the Swedish National Road Administration (1999) in M., Warner, and Aberg (2005) if a crash occurs by a car that is travelling at the speed of 50 km/h, 70 pedestrians
... control this man-made epidemic by implementing strategic programs that will effectively address such a major growing issue of road traffic accidents and injuries. Although some initiatives have been taken by the government and various non-government agencies, many of which are not fully effective for the causes of enormous constraints at different levels particularly for the lack of target oriented research based program. Indeed, an effective and integrated research program is fundamentally important and is seen as the basis of development and subsequent evaluation of a comprehensive road safety strategy.