Car crashes can be a very vivid topic for one to open up about. The reasonings or explanations of why crashes happen are fairly simple. The numbers of car crashes that take place, however, are not. In the year of 2011, 889 people were killed in traffic crashes, 834 being fatal crashes, through the state of Michigan.

The average yearly statistics gathered by the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center Crash Statistics state that over any other age group, the ages of people forty-five to fifty-four, seem to get in car crashes more often. With so many calamitous car crashes, the top three reasons have been proven to be driving under the influence, speeding, and weather.

The NHTSA website has concluded through research that in 2017, 16 – 24-year-olds make up 42% of ruinous drunk driving mishaps. Driving under influence is very detrimental to oneself and to surrounding people.

A young Dearborn driver, Julie Aoun, explains her thoughts. “I’d feel terrible if I knew that I got them into an accident and that it was my fault.” Aoun recalls her first thoughts while driving being, “I was nervous about getting into an accident, I never really thought about anything else other than safety.”

An example of how harmful DUI is the Abbas family. A Dearborn family coming from a Florida vacation were hit and killed by an intoxicated driver. When one is drunk, they are not in full authority of their body. Inducing harmful activity upon themselves, including driving, never settles considerably.

DUI is a very pressing crime. According to drivinglaws.org, 1-2 DUIs are fined ranging from $390 – $1000 and penalty assessments, while the 3rd DUI results in a jail sentence of 120 days with an added 30 days on probation if granted. Just to show the solemnity of committing this misdemeanor, your license could be taken away.

DUIs are only the first topic, thus bringing up the second point, speeding. The punishments for speeding are also plain, either a verbal warning or a fixed penalty notice. The car crashes, however, are not that simple. Speeding is a very easy way to get into an accident as humans and cars don’t have reflexes that are as quick as the snap second the accident is going to happen.

Many people seem to have some ideas on ways speeding could be toned down. Shams Sami, a student around the new drivers’ age, explains possible solutions. “While I’m unsure regarding a precise resolution to speeding, I suppose that the overall structures of roads can be altered. We could raise platforms and narrow pavements to provide the illusion that the driver is accelerating. If the driver is mistaken in thinking they are traveling at greater velocities, they will see no need to travel faster. We should also enforce our laws involving speeding more to divert citizens from committing such acts. If there was more education about the consequences of speeding, I feel people would feel obliged to do it less.”

Speeding leads a one-way ticket to clangor.

The last and concluding detail of just a few of the reasons behind car collisions is the weather. It may sound rudimentary or simple, but the weather can result in a lot of disastrous car crashes.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), tracks 22% of the six million car wrecks in the U.S are the results of the weather. Quoting, “Nearly 6,000 people are killed in car crashes, and among 445,000 injured due to driving weather conditions.

The ideas of weather affecting driving range from heat-related problems to abrasive snow storms and pouring heavy rain. The roads accordingly bend towards the weather, tending to be slippery on many icy days. According to the Weather Channel, “The 10-year average combined number of deaths each year from flooding, lightning, hurricanes, and heat is 379.”

With the average reasons being brought about, there really is not anything we can control about accidents that happen because of harsh weather conditions. However, we can bring more awareness to the drinking and driving issue,  and how many lives are lost. “The families must be devastated about their losses. It’s horrifying how many lives are lost from a daily occurrence such as driving and how simple it is to make catastrophic lapses in judgment. It’s alarming how the rate of accidents is increasing yearly, as well,” Shams Sami adds.

Driving under influence is harmful enough to one person, but it might result in worse fates for the surrounding individuals, too. Speeding is an issue of patience. When speeding during an emergency, focus on the road and important surroundings.

Punishments by the law are not as severe as to have to live knowing that you cost others their lives.