Fatal Machines Essay, Research Paper

Fatal Machines

Have you noticed how careless people can be when they are behind the wheel of an automobile? Cars are dangerous machines which require patient drivers. Over the years technology has made cars safer. Many people think they are indestructible when they?re behind the wheel. They figure the car wouldn?t be on the road if it weren?t safe. Today?s drivers are used to hopping in their car and being able to drive from point A to point B, but now we have traffic, which many drivers can?t deal with.

A car used to be a difficult thing to operate and with technology moving at the rate it is cars take almost no effort to drive, but drivers don?t understand how dangerous cars really are. I became aware of this after talking to my grandfather. He told me how he didn?t used to have automatic transmission, power steering, power windows, and cruse control, nor did he have air bags, and braking systems. Back then he said there weren?t half as many accidents. Many drivers also think they are indestructible when they drive because of how safe cars makers say their cars are, but they don?t understand how dangerous they can really be. Yet everyday on the news there is a new story involving an automobile death..

All the features to make the car drive better are great, but putting a more powerful engine under the hood is just going to make them more dangerous. Today people like power under the hood of their car, but don?t want a car that eats gas, or that sounds like a hotrod. Technology has made it possible for powerful quiet cars that are very fuel-efficient. This is great, but most drivers aren?t responsible enough to handle the extra power. With the extra power people are racing down the freeway, but even worse they?re racing through downtown streets, parking lots, even school zones. Yesterday I saw a man race past me on the freeway and a couple miles along the road I saw the same car smashed into the center divide. On top of that we have devices that warn drivers to slow down because a police officer is near; this isn?t what we need on the market for people to buy. Driving has switched from a way of travel to a competition.

Making the car easier to drive and more powerful aren?t anything when you have to add in the average agitated driver. I think the main reason for people driving the way they do is because they?re in a hurry; they want to go from point A to point B without anything in between. When something slows them down, or another driver cuts them off purposefully or not causes road rage. Society has tried many things to get people off the road like public transit and carpooling, but not enough people use it to make a difference. As a result the roadways are still congested which means more and more road rage. When I am driving home from school I see many drivers the zip down the freeway weaving in and out of traffic, and others that are still going through the stoplight when my light turns green. There are 1440 minutes in a day. I can?t understand why it is so difficult to wait another minute for the light to turn green again, especially when the ticket is $270, and most people don?t make that much in a minute.

The clueless ness of many drivers today adds to the danger of driving a car. I sometimes question if they even have a license. In my years of driving down the freeway I have seen drivers next to me sleeping, reading a book, talking on the phone, and one guy was even typing on his laptop. I don?t understand how their car is in one piece, or why they still have a license? Before given a license you are taught the dos and don?ts of driving, but why is it that some people feel the need to pull out a gun after they have been cut off. Even worse I read in the newspaper about a guy who walked up to the driver of the car that just rear ended him and grabbed the dog out the ladies lap and threw it into oncoming traffic. Who gave these people a driver?s license?

If people continue to drive in such an erratic manor roads will become more dangerous than playing Russian roulette. Cars are complex dangerous machines that need intelligent and patient operators. The world does not need a person behind the wheel who is stressed out to begin with, and then who has to wait in bumper-to-bumper traffic as they watch the snail on the sidewalk pass them. All drivers need to understand how dangerous their car can be, but also how non-indestructible they are.