Some people think that strict punishments for driving offences are the only way to reduce traffic accidents. Do you agree or disagree?

It has been a debatable issue that if strict punishments are the only way to reduce traffic accidents. In my view, strict punishments play an important role in reducing traffic accidents, but it is not the only way to reduce that, there are wide range of ways to make this happen, I will discuss the effects of strict punishments and provide other ways to reduce the accident rates.

If government implements strict punishments for drivers according to different circumstance, it would provide the obvious alert to drivers. Drivers will pay more attention to obey the traffic rules, in order to avoid getting the fine tickets. For example, the most serious factor causing traffic accidents in China is drunk driving, in order to tackle this problem, government has implemented very strict punishments since few years ago, the drunk driving drivers can be put into jail for maximum 15 days, while in the past the punishment are penalties only. The statistical analysis which conducted by government shows a significant reduction on traffic accidents. Apparently, the strict punishment is an critical way to keep the society in a lower traffic accidental ratio.

However, I don't agree that punishing strictly is the only way to reduce traffic accidents. Globally, It is obvious that each country's government implements a wide range of ways to control the accidents instead of only strict punishments. For instance, improve the road infrastructure with clear signboard and alert signals along the road, or control the amount of cars travelling in the express way during peak hours, etc. All these methods help governments to control the ratio of traffic accidents in a lower range.

In summary, strict punishments play an essential roles in reducing traffic accidents, however, it is not the only way to do so, there are many other proactive actions that government has taken to lower the accidents on the road.