I Wish I Had Paid Attention

“In 2016, there were 6,296,000 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes in the US.” (Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, 2018) In 2016, I experienced for a few moments that felt like forever, seeing bright light as I laid inside a crushed and near totaled Mini Cooper in a West Hollywood neighborhood. A pedestrian had sprinted in front of a line of cars, creating a chain reaction of slamming of brakes and an end result of me rear ending the vehicle in front of me. Had I not been distracted with changing the music that was playing on the phone, perhaps I could have avoided that dreaded day. I could have driven with more focus and with a longer distance from the car in front of me. I have intense shoulder pain to this day from the effects of my accident. I cannot lift my left arm as once before. And I wish I could say this was my only accident. This was one of four accidents I have encountered since I began to drive. I have been rear ended and have rear ended others by falling asleep on the wheel. In fact, according to Virginia Tech studies, ‘Driver-related factors (i.e., error, impairment, fatigue, and distraction) were present in almost 90% of crashes.” When I passed my driver’s exam on the 4th try, I should have taken into consideration that I urgently needed to better educate myself with my driving. In my town, we were taught driver’s ed with a focus on passing the driver’s test, and not truly learning all rules of operating a motor vehicle. I wish that there was more emphasis on driving with plenty of space ahead to avoid rear ending a vehicle. I wish that many situations could be covered throughout driver’s education such as what to do if you are not able to functionally operate a vehicle in other situations as well, such as exhaustion. Instead, when we are lax on taking the proper measures of thoroughly educating ourselves on the rules of the road, we pick up on street rules such as aggressive driving and road rage, becoming socially acceptable. After my series of accidents, I had become emotionally traumatized by motor vehicles. In the passenger seat, I clench and painfully tense up whenever I see a sharp turn. I wish I could regain control of this aspect in my life. However, when I do drive now, I feel as if I have never driven so carefully and focused in my life. Why couldn’t this have always been the case before? Thankfully, I can say that I have not been responsible with loss of life during my accidents, but that is not the case for millions around the world. Societal steps that can be taken to avoid accidents and loss of human life related to motor vehicle accidents could begin by having Driver’s Ed being mandatory in all schools. Driver’s Ed should be thorough and affordable as we should all have access to this information in society. All smartphones should have a driver mode that turns on automatically as unfortunately there are so many who are inconsiderate of life. Steps to take as a driver is to always wear your seatbelt. Never tailgate and always leave plenty of room between you and the car in front of you. Drive at the speed limit and never drive under conditions in which you cannot functionally operate a vehicle, which are not limited to drinking and driving but to many situations such as exhaustion, or even eating and driving. Your hands must be on the wheel at all times and your focus needs to be entirely available to the road while driving. A second is enough to ruin someone’s life and your own.