Preventing Unintentional Injuries Preventing injuries is one thing I would personally say is near impossible to stop. Injuries happen almost every second of everyday, whether it be something minor like stubbing your toe on the corner of a table or something more tragic like a near fatal car crash. According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, injuries including unintentional and violence related account for about fifty-one percent of all deaths among people from the ages one to forty-four. With that data collected that puts injuries as the leading cause of death among anyone in those age groups. In the United States of America there is a leading cause of unintentional injuries that hasn’t and probably will never subside since its rise. Motor Vehicle Injuries, injuries that were from a motor vehicle have left an average of two and a half million drivers and passengers in hospitals. In the United States an average of one hundred billion dollars goes towards just motor vehicle crash and medical cost, which could be avoided if we had the right information to share. But what causes these outrageously high numbers even though none of these injuries were intentional. Most would say that the person simply wasn’t paying enough attention to what he or she was doing, but it is way more than that. Focusing on motor vehicle accidents, I personally believe that the reasons why these numbers are high are because of distractions we deal with while on the road. Drivers are distracted in many different ways, looking at something other than the road, hearing or thinking of something not related to driving, and the most important handling something other than the wheel. The most common distraction I feel in this day and age would be technology. Technology within this past decade has advance faster than anything we’ve seen. With helpful advancements like rear cameras on your car to help you reverse and automatic braking, there are also the same amount if disadvantages. Having a touchscreen navigation system in the center dashboard if shown in commercials as the next big thing to help you drive but to me it’s just another distractions lowering your chance of making it to your destination safely. Setting a trap for the next driver just to promote the future of technology in a car where you are likely spending the least amount of time doesn’t help anyone but the ones profiting from it.
Another thing I have been told is to not trust the other driver. Always driving on the defensive side could save you from any possible injury even if you feel overly confident. Driving for years versus first getting your license doesn’t change the fact that everyone has a responsibility to create a safe driving atmosphere and hold all laws to standards. Always remember the key things taught to you when you first started driving and tips that helped you throughout the years become a better driver. Always keep your eyes on the road and check your mirrors, don’t tailgate any driver even if you are in a rush there will always be a way around that driver. Also from my experience is to not trust anyone’s turn signal, don’t put your trust in another car’s flashing light. I saw a car that seemed to be in a rush but while driving over the speed limit, when he saw the car in front of him turn on his tur signal the driver began to speed up thinking the other driver was going to make the turn and right before I turn my head he didn’t have enough time to react and fully crashed his car into him. The accident didn’t seem to be too serious but you could definitely tell that his car had taken a toll and would cause a big financial burden on his behalf, something that could have been avoided if he would have obeyed all traffic laws.
The million dollar question is how we prevent unintentional injuries. The answer is, you simply can’t but there is a way to lower your chance of an accident happening. The most important way in my opinion is to always watch out for your