Life Downstream

I commend those who work in road safety who can put on a smile and look optimistically at things like Target Zero (Washington State), Vision Zero (Sweden, Netherlands, United Kingdom), and Toward Zero Deaths (Minnesota, but many other states have virtually identical programs). Each of these programs intends to eventually get the number of deaths and serious injuries from vehicle crashes down to zero. It’s an admirable goal. It is a goal that everyone everywhere should want to accomplish, yet there are some sticking points. After being first on scene to more than one alcohol-related crash, my spark is fading.

When I was growing up I was raised to firmly believe that one must always wear a seatbelt in a car and that one never, ever drinks and drives. But as I have grown up and experienced life in most every corner of North America, I see that there are many people who do not share the same core belief.

What is most frustrating to me is when my peers, so people in their 20s, don’t wear a seatbelt or drink and drive. These are things that we have known are harmful for our entire lives. If after two decades of being told through so many mediums you still won’t wear a seatbelt and you still decide to get behind the wheel drunk, what hope is there for you in the next two decades? That said, please prove me wrong. While I normally hate being wrong, I will gladly make an exception here.

It is impossible to legislate behavior. Yes, drinking and driving is not legal. But lots of things aren’t legal and widely done. Plenty of folks use illicit drugs and speed, and our prisons tell us that some folks rob banks, assault, and murder. The threat of prison (and, in some states, death) for crimes clearly wasn’t an effective deterrent.

This leads me to question what the contributing causes of dangerous driving behavior are. I cannot count the number of educational campaigns I sat through in school or the catchy commercials I see and hear around the holidays. Maybe awareness isn’t the problem at all. Maybe the problem is beyond the realm of where most transportation people routinely travel. Maybe it’s more connected to health and social status than knowledge and awareness. Maybe someone who is depressed feels they have less to lose, whether they get ticketed or get into a crash. Maybe an alcoholic believes they have merely adjusted to consuming a certain number of drinks and is “fine.”

Maybe we should stop staring at FARS and our state crash databases and look more into injury prevention and public health fields to find out if there are consistencies with those who drink and drive or who do not wear seatbelts. These are variables in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is a big survey conducted by the CDC. It’s on my list of things to investigate.

Zero road-related fatalities is a noble goal and it is one that, I believe is entirely within our grasp if everyone cooperates. The trouble is, cooperation is voluntary whether an individual realizes it or not.