Behind the Wheel

Evan Matthews

30 November 2020

Behind the Wheel

Driving safety has always been a priority of mine; my friends know it very well. I don’t think they know exactly why I am strict about them wearing a seatbelt, not putting their feet on the airbag, and driving when they think they’re sober. I know that thousands of people die each, and every day due to a vehicular accident whether it’s a negligent driver, intoxicated driver, or sleepy driver. According to SaferAmerica, 1.3 million people die every year- that is 1.3 million families losing someone they knew since birth. How many of those 1.3 million people had a significant other that will wake up in an empty bed the next day or won’t even have the ability to fall asleep that night? Does it depend on having to take a life for that ignorant driver to decide it’s not worth rushing to work? 

My brother and his passenger had an accident four years ago where they went out to the bar and my brother thought he was sober enough to drive; that was proven to be wrong after he went up a guard rail, struck several trees, and a utility pole. I remember waking up in my home, hearing the police outside my bedroom door talking to my mother who was in tears. I hear the police mention that one passenger was injured, and the other had died on impact without knowing who it was- my brother, or his friend. I remember the feeling after I thought my brother had died that night not knowing how or when, but remembering that I had that urge to stop them when they were walking out the door, knowing they were going to go to a bar late at night. I didn’t do it and I could have, but I was too young, and I don’t think I could have influenced them. I remember the gut feeling that something was wrong hours later when they had not returned home, but I simply went to bed, unable to pinpoint what that feeling was that night. My brother is still recovering from the incident four years later and is trying to get his life back on track with his one-month-old little girl. 

That gut feeling and regret of not doing anything that night has always stuck with me; my friends probably find it annoying when I pester them with putting on that seatbelt, but that is the only thing that saved my brother that night. If my brother hadn’t stepped behind the wheel and the passenger wore his seatbelt, I don’t think I would be writing this. I have made promises to myself and asked promises from my friends to keep the phone down while driving. I have stopped several people from getting behind the wheel after they had “a couple of drinks” and will continue to do so. Driving is a privilege, not a right. My brother was lucky to escape with his life but must live with knowing he took another.