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Car Accident Prevention

Although many accidents are caused by behavior that is difficult to alter, by mechanical failure, or by road conditions, some technical solutions are becoming more widely available to prevent accidents:

• Proximity Monitors: These would automatically detect how close you were traveling to the car in front of you and automatically adjust your car's acceleration to prevent you from getting closer than you can safely stop at your current speed.
• Sobriety Detectors: These locks prevent the ignition key from working if the driver breathes into one and is shown to have consumed alcohol.
• Drifting Monitors: These devices monitor how close a vehicle is traveling to lane markers and, if it starts to drift toward or over the markers without the turn signal being activated, sounds an alarm.

In most developed countries, young (under 25 years old) male drivers have been shown to be by far the most likely to be involved in a car accident, and this has become an area of focus in recent times. Reasons suggested for this prevalence include inexperience combined with over-confidence, peer pressure, showing off, and even neurological development arguments. In addition most serious accidents occur at night and when the car has multiple occupants. This has led to some discussion of the following proposals:

• A "curfew" imposed on young drivers to prevent them driving at night.
• Requiring an experienced supervisor to chaperone the less experienced driver.
• Forbidding the carrying of passengers.
• Zero alcohol tolerance.
• Compulsory advanced driving courses.
• Requiring a sign placed on the back of the vehicle to notify other drivers of a less-experienced individual in the driver's seat.

Some countries or states have already implemented some of these, but so far no consensus to a total solution has been reached. It should be noted that this prevalence has long been noted by insurance companies, and premiums reflect that; however, very high premiums for young male drivers does not seem to have had a significant impact on the accident statistics, suggesting that these drivers simply accept the high premiums as part of the "on road" costs of mobility.