Eyes on the Road

Driving
home from babysitting one day the summer after my senior year, I was
optimistic. I was saving up every penny for my first college semester
that followed, and that day was just like the one before. I was
always a confident driver, did great on my driving test, never really
worried about car crashes. After that summer afternoon, my reality
changed. The speed limit was 50 mph. A truck 3 cars ahead of me
slammed on the breaks to let another vehicle in the lane. Everyone
followed his move including me. Coming down the hill behind me was a
Ford Expedition. She did not have her eyes on the road. While I was
hitting the breaks on my car, she was hitting the keys on her cell
phone. She crashed into me first and the domino effect resulted in a
five-car pileup. Airbags were deployed, windows were shattered, and I
was in a daze. I was confused. Never had I been in an accident and it
all felt like a moment. Jesus saved my life that day. You know when
you would make a sandwich and press it down real tight. I was the
sandwich. By the grace of God, I walked away with only some bruises,
scratches, and whiplash. The woman in one of the cars in front was
taken to the hospital because her whole forehead seemed like a
balloon expanding. The reason I say this story is to emphasize the
danger that driving really poses. You are in control of a huge metal
machine that can go amazingly fast and it’s not only your life that
is at risk. If you are not looking at the road, you can take the life
of someone else’s daughter, someone’s husband, someone’s mom. Drivers
education stresses the importance of safe driving and the precautions
that must be taken in order to reduce the numbers of driving related
fatalities in America. That is why it is so important. It can help
keep loved ones out of hospital beds or even coffins. Many steps can
be taken in order to reduce the staggering numbers of deaths that
occur behind the wheel. For instance, enforcing stricter laws
regarding texting and driving I believe will greatly assist the
situation. That accident changed my outlook on driving. I am
definitely not as confident as I once was and have a hard time
trusting other when they are behind the wheel. If I am with my
friends or my sisters, and they pick their phone while driving to
text or change the song that’s playing, I quickly take it away. It is
not that I am trying to be rude. I am simply trying to help them
become better drivers. I do not want them to be in the situation I
was. When I drive, I do not look at my phone either. Calls or texts
can wait. I know that doing so can change the trajectory of my life
or someone else’s.