It’s hard to reduce dangerous driving

We’ve all seen dangerous drivers. Maybe it’s the person speeding down a residential street where children are playing. Maybe it’s the driver texting at a light and forgetting to drive when it turns green. Maybe it’s the tailgater who refuses to pass but also won’t give you more than a foot of space.

We know it when we see it, and dangerous driving leads to accidents, injuries and fatalities. We know that, as well, and it seems like the solution to our road problems is to simply reduce dangerous driving. If people were safer, they’d crash less often, and we’d save lives.

That’s true, but experts admit that it’s much harder to do than it is to write. The problem, they say, is that the concept is “too fuzzy” and broad to really be a goal. There are just too many ways to be unsafe.

For instance, you have a driver who may never text and drive, but they always break the speed limit. Or you may have a driver who follows the speed limit religiously, but it’s because they’re always buzzed behind the wheel. Maybe someone never drinks and drives, but they often drive home from work when they’re so tired that they’re almost falling asleep behind the wheel.

All of these behaviors are dangerous, but people simply aren’t cutting back on all of them at the same time. With so many ways to cause accidents, the threat simply exists every time you get in the car. Even if you are a safe driver, everyone else may not be, and you need to know your rights if you’re injured in an accident.