Driving and Living

Driving
and Living

Alexa
Guzman

While
I’ve been lucky enough to experience just minor car accidents, I’ve
seen and heard of life changing collisions. One story I can
always recall is the frightening accident that my dad was a part of
20 years ago. It was any other afternoon for my dad, driving his
miniature silver truck on the freeway when a reckless driver came
along and struck my dad’s truck. The problem was that when my dad
was hit, he was driving on a bridge. The impact pushed him off of the
bridge, where his car flipped three times before landing on the
street with the truck’s wheels facing up. By a miracle he was alive
and the only harm were cuts on his arms due to the shards of glass.
Some good Samaritans witnessed the scene and immediately helped him
evacuate the truck before the ambulance arrived. The even crazier
part is that later authorities told my dad that the reckless driver
who hit him had been someone running from the cops in that instant. I
consider it a miracle that I’m even able to write this today. I
know that there are so many others out there that can share a story
similar to this one. Some are around to tell it, but many aren’t. 

Driver
Education is the basic foundation of preserving lives out on the
road. It teaches skill along with integrity and respect for oneself
and those around us. Still, to reduce the deaths occurring at the
hands, or wheel, of driving there needs to be a call to action. To
reduce deaths on the road, driving education could include a series
of virtual scenarios that puts the student driver through a series of
events demonstrating what could happen if distracted on the road.
Perhaps a glimpse into the consequences of our actions would result
in alertness. It’s an investment worth the prevention of any life
lost at the hands of an unforeseen yet avoidable event. 

I’ve
been in the passenger seat multiple times as I’ve watched friends
look at their phones, scroll through social media, or send texts
while driving. I’ve watched them step into the driver’s seat as
they insisted that they weren’t sleepy although their faces said
otherwise. Sometimes we see this happening and we think nothing of
it. It’s become a norm in today’s society that we tend not to
think twice. To become a better and safer driver, I could put myself
in the shoes of those that have lost a life important to them or have
experienced a terrifying accident, like my dad. Although I could
never fathom the emotions unless it happened to me, all lives are
worth considering before deciding to be irresponsible at the wheel.
Helping others become safer can include slapping that phone out of
their hand and encouraging thinking from a different perspective.
Overall, I hope more people get the chance to live another day after
setting foot into their vehicle.