It’s not worth it

It’s not worth it:

We live in a world now where we pick up our phones on average, 96 times a day. Everyone is addicted. You may say you aren’t, but in reality, we all are. There are approximately 1.6 million phone related car accidents per year. One out of every four car accidents are due to texting while driving. Sure it may seem like if we pick up our phones for one second nothing will happen; but a lot can happen in that one second.

Last year around September, my Mom and I took a quick trip down to San Diego to visit some colleges that I had been interested in. While we were there, we were involved in a phone related car accident. It wasn’t severely bad, just got a little bump from behind. Neither my mom or I saw it coming. We were at a dead stop in some heavy traffic on our way to the airport and then next thing we know BAM! Our hearts both skipped a beat. We were both in shock. Neither of us had ever been in an accident before.

When we got out of the car to discuss with the people involved, we saw that it wasn’t the truck behind us that had caused the accident, instead it was a prius coming in hot at 40 mph who had hit the truck, which then hit us. Both the Prius and the truck had two young kids in the backseat. No one was hurt luckily. When we were discussing with the women driving the Pruis, she had said that she looked down for one second to find directions on her phone. She did not even acknowledge or notice the stopped traffic ahead of her and when she did, it was too late.

Ever since this accident, I have been hyper aware of my surroundings. I always make sure I stop my vehicle at least six feet away from the vehicle in front of me. It is crazy to me that the impact of this tiny Prius was able to give that truck enough momentum to hit our rental car. In case I get rear ended again, I want to make sure that my car gives enough space so that I hopefully won’t end up hitting the car in front of me. This accident has also made me realize that I can wait until I get to my destination to pick up my phone. Even if I am just wanting to change the song, it can wait. It is not worth it. You may think it is, but it is not.

Car accidents can be frightening especially when you don’t even see them coming. Most phone related car accidents are much more fatal and destructible than the one I was in. And I am unbelievably grateful that mine was just a minor crash. But being in this accident has made me realize it is not worth it to text and drive. It may seem like nothing will happen in the one second, but in reality you are putting your own life at danger, and even worse, you are risking the lives of others.