Driving a Weapon

It’s
7:15 a.m. on October 24th, 2019 and I’m driving to school with my
sister. She’s on the passenger side, and behind her would be our
carpool but she had show choir that morning so we didn’t take her,
thankfully. Driving up L street the sunrise on our sleepy faces,
angry because I don’t want to sit in English class in 20 mins going
over some dumb book. I get into the left turning lane and for some
reason I scoot to the middle of the intersection (something I never
do) because I want to make sure I make the light to be on time for
school. The light turns yellow and I panic. It’s me just sitting in
the middle of an intersection, the other side is about to turn green.
I see the other cars slowing down so I slam on the gas. Remember how
I said I thought the cars were slowing down? Yeah, all but one. As
I’m speeding to get into the lane a car comes full on and slams
right into the right back of my car forcing me sister and I to do a
180. The whole world felt slow motion as we were spinning, and all I
heard was my sister screaming my name.

I
thank God every single day that we’re ok. I thank him every day
that my car pool wasn’t in the car because it was her side that got
hit and it was inches from her door. My guess is, that she would have
been a little hurt at least some bruises maybe even a concussion.
I’ve been able to forgive myself, but still to this day I still
feel so bad for putting my sister in danger like that. I remember
being so scared to get get in a car after that or even drive one.
From that day on ever time I get behind the wheel I take every
precaution there is. My phone is always on the driving setting, I
never text and drive, and I never go into the middle of the
intersection even when I always see others doing it. So to answer the
question of “have I ever been in a car accident?” Yes. The answer
is yes.

The
importance of drivers ed in reducing the number of deaths is to
educate. Educate the world on how much of a responsibility it really
is to drive. Lives do matter, and it’s unfair that some don’t get
the chance to live a long life and to reach the goals they had for
themselves. I remember freshman year my math class was talking about
driving and how excited we were to learn. My teacher said “you will
be driving a weapon”. And quite honestly that’s the truest thing
I’ve ever heard. Cars can kill. Cars can injure. We need to be
educated on how to prevent bad things from happening. To learn the
safety of how to drive, to know what to do if the worst does come
true. I thought I never would get in a car accident because I’m a
good driver. Well, it wasn’t because I wasn’t a good driver, it
was because I needed to take more precautions and educate myself on
them.

The
first step we can take to reduce the number of deaths related to
driving is to know the car. That doesn’t mean “oh I know how to
work the car.” It means getting used to the size, how easily the
steering wheels turns, have you adjusted your mirrors and seat enough
to make sure you can see everything. Another step is to always,
always, always let pedestrians go first. This is very important
especially when there’s a large crowd on the street and even when
you think it’s safe to drive again a small kid could have gotten
left behind and as soon as you know it he or she starts running and
boom. One more very important step in reducing deaths is to just
follow the speed limit. There are many incidents in where a driver is
speeding and their wheel gets out of control and they smash into a
pole, a fence, and even worse a house. Or when it’s icy outside and
you think your car has good traction but you keep sliding and before
you know it you’ve smashed into car ahead of you.

Steps
I can take even though I admit I’m a petty person, is to always let
the other cars go before me. My mom lives by the rule of letting one
person go and then you go. If everyone was like this think how easy
it would be to get around. Always be the bigger person. Another step
I can follow is even when it may seem like the car beside me is
trying to “race” me, or cut me off it could be because they’re
just trying to get to work. I tend to only think of myself on the
road. And unfortunately, I think that’s what a majority of us do.
Together we can reduce the number of deaths in cars by educating each
other, taking precautions, and thinking of others lives not just our
own.