IELTS Writing Task 2 Practice Test 20 Topic: Improve the Safety of our Roads

Zuhana

4 min read

Updated On Oct 19, 2021

Sample Essay
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The only way to improve the safety of our roads is to give much stricter punishments on driving offenses. What extent do you agree or disagree?

Sample Essay

Traffic safety measures have long been on the government’s agenda worldwide. Some people argue that to make road travel safer, government has to punish drivers more harshly if they break the traffic law. I agree with the view that punishment can help curb road offenses, but it should not be taken as the only solution.

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Admittedly, a severe punishment is vital considering its deterrent effect on those who are likely to disobey road regulations. For example, Australia is one of the safest countries all over the world. In this country, traffic violators are fined more seriously than some other countries. An instance is drivers will be detained if they are found to have drunk driving and a severe fine will be applied for over speeding rather than just verbal warning in some other places. Therefore, drivers and pedestrians become more aware of traffic laws and demonstrate improved law compliance, since they know the serious consequences of their risky actions.

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However, despite the importance of imposing harsh regulations, the authorities should not overlook other options that may sometimes achieve better outcomes. One salient example is that raising the legal driving age could contribute to the improvement of road safety. It is seen that youths are legally allowed to drive after 16 or 17 in some countries, such as Philippines and United Kingdom. However, teenagers are usually more impetuous but less mature than adults,
hence are more likely to disobey the traffic regulations. As a result, increasing the legal driving age to 21.5 in countries with high traffic accident rates could enhance young people’s awareness of traffic law since they have more time for
training.

In conclusion, the apparent effectiveness of the harsher punishment measures on traffic law offenders should be acknowledged. However, this is not the only way that achieves better and safer usage of roads. An integrated approach should be adopted such as raising the legal driving age.

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The standards of road safety are deteriorating gradually since owning a personal vehicle has become so convenient. The frequency of accidents has risen over the past few years at an alarming rate and the figures keep on escalating. Some believe that the cause of such mishaps is the absence of stringent laws and this system has to be reformed so that offenders are faced with dire consequences. I firmly support this notion and agree that traffic rules have to be toughened to ensure the safety of the public. In the following paragraphs, I will elaborate on the topic and justify my views with relevant instances.

Firstly, owing to the presence of lax regulations to abide by when travelling on public roads, individuals become careless and put their own as well as the lives of pedestrians in danger. This issue of reckless driving is more evident in small towns and villages where roads are mostly vacant. Nevertheless, city dwellers are also in the same plight, especially when travelling on public transport. Secondly, this kind of heedless action of public transportation employees puts the lives of many regular commuters at risk. Thus, to curb these tendencies, stricter by-laws have to be implemented by the government.

Furthermore, the non-existence of severe laws is not the sole reason for the declining level of traffic safety, but the improper execution of authority is also a crucial source of traffic disasters. The presence of corruption among law enforcers is more observable day by day. This had led drivers to believe that they are immune from the legal repercussions of their unlawful road activities.

Although, an argument can be made on the fact that a considerable amount of traffic accidents are the outcome of mere mischance and the blame cannot be wholly put on anyone. Therefore, in such a situation penalising the parties involved will only dissatisfaction among the public. That being said, the need for safety is more immediate than enforcement of law properly during such exceptions.

Finally, I would add that with the pace at which humanity is progressing, soon every roadway is bound to be congested with traffic, and when that time comes, the negligence towards complete road safety will be consequential.