A Not So Ordinary Day

A Not So Ordinary Day

It was an ordinary sunny- California day and the start of my commute to work, reached my 1998 Nissan Sentra after a long school day and plopped onto the driver’s seat. It was blazing hot inside as the black upholsteries absorbed the sun’s rays. After starting the ignition, I immediately blasted the air conditioner (A/C) and plugged into my stereo. Engines going, A/C flowing, and tunes playing. – I was ready to hit the road, like any regular day; or so I thought.

On my drive, I pass by a nearby high school and unfortunately, got caught in every driver’s worst nightmare, traffic. Slowly, inch by inch, I was placed behind an SUV that was driven by a mom who just picked up her daughter in the front passenger’s seat. Going at a turtle’s pace, I began to worry that I would be late for work. I scooted up ahead to the traffic light and counted three cars ahead of me. I anticipated soon escaping from this unbearable traffic. The neighboring cars including the SUV followed up ahead. I continued to follow the traffic flow when suddenly the SUV stopped abruptly. Quickly, I reacted by slamming onto the brakes and gripping my steering wheel stiff. I was relieved that I was able to respond in time, and took a breath of relief. However, I heard a sudden thud and felt a forceful push, as if someone was ramming from behind. I immediately realized two events had just occurred: I was rear-ended and in response, my car had hit the SUV. I checked if I was injured, and fortunately I was not. However, my car had experienced the most damage out of the three. Bumpers had split and my hood was bent like a pitched tent. After all the necessary steps were handled, I immediately headed home. Despite the experience being slightly traumatizing, I was grateful that the incident had not been worse.

From my first car accident, I realized that we should live in the moment and be present as an ordinary day could bring upon unexpected outcomes. While I was fortunate to have been alert, it could have easily been a situation where I was distracted by anything other than driving. Thus, from my experience and as evidence has shown, there is nothing more important than full attention while driving.