It’s the one who gets home safely that counts

Marissa Pendleton

DmvEdu.org

It’s the one who gets home safely that counts

March 26, 2021

“Baseball is like driving, it’s the one who gets home safely that counts.”- Tommy Lasorda

One early morning on my way to work, I was never expecting to remember my defensive approach to driving skills taught to me while I was taking my driver safety online classes and behind the wheel driver training. As I started out of the driveway, we were experiencing a heavy downpour of rain. I had to wait for a car to pass and then I pulled onto the road behind the passing car. As I was following the car in front of me, I noticed the vehicle swerving rather erratically inside his lane and onto the shoulder. We had 2 issues going on inside my head; one was to be cautious and drive slower because of the heavy rain and two, I wanted to give myself enough space to keep clear of the person in front of me who was clearly driving poorly. According to statistics, over 40,000 people are killed each year due to automobile accidents. Never in a million years did I expect to be involved in an accident that added to that statistic.

Even though I was practicing my defensive driving and driving at a much lower speed because of the current conditions, I unfortunately was unable to avoid being apart of an accident. I recall turning onto the main highway as the erratic car was still in front of me. The rain was coming down so hard that my windshield wipers could barely keep the rain off my window. I lowered my speed thankfully or else the accident could have been far worse than it was. As the car in front of me was swerving fast and trying to pass cars on the shoulder, I saw the taillights go on and suddenly, the car was spinning out of control. The car crossed over the line into oncoming traffic, hitting a small work van coming our way. Thankfully, I was breaking, however I was unable to avoid the oncoming work van from twisting and turning into my car. I was not able to see the last steps of the accident as I was spinning into the ditch. As my vehicle came to a stop, I was encapsulated by deployed airbags. My car was already calling 911 for me. I tried to remember my driver education steps, I took a couple breaths to calm myself and make sure I was ok. I had to crawl out of my vehicle through the passenger side as my door would not open. I recall seeing old war time movies and the scene of this accident resembled the aftermath of a war zone.

Another step I recall from driver training is to make sure everyone is ok and to check for injuries. I am currently a sophomore at our local junior college and one of the courses I took was the first responder medical course and I am a certified first responder. As I was coming up onto the highway from my car, I noticed the driver in front of me, must have continued spinning out of control into another oncoming box truck. The car was stopped right side up next to this large box truck that flipped over and was upside down. I approached the first car which was the individual I had been following. As I looked inside the car, I knew I was going to need extra help and I was going to check on the other vehicles. However, as I was going to turn away, I will never forget looking at the drivers face as he tried to talk and took his last breaths. Unfortunately, this is an image that haunts me, and I have had some horrific nightmares regarding the accident.

It felt like an eternity had passed since the accident occurred, however emergency personnel were not on scene yet. The rain was coming down in what I envisioned to be a monsoon; windy, cold, torrential rain and I was drenched. I went over to the box truck that was upside down, the passenger of that van had freed himself and appeared to be ok. The driver of the van truck was unconscious, and I went to administer help. Shortly after the driver started regaining consciousness and he began panicking trying to free himself from the wreckage. I called the passenger over to help me try to keep the driver calm and safe. The driver would not stop wiggling around so we helped him move safely out of the truck and I held his neck in C spine to help prevent further movement. Emergency personnel finally arrived, and I continued to offer aid.

My parents showed up to this horror highway crash, a scene that was extremely frightening to them as they had no idea what condition I was in. The emergency personnel did not realize I was apart of the accident, therefore when my parents showed up, nobody seemed to know who I was or how I was. Hearing my parents re-live that moment gives me chills every time. Between the cars involved, witnesses pulled off to the side of the road, several ambulances, many firetrucks and quite a few highway patrol cars. Most vehicles had their lights flashing and they were all lit up through the downpouring rain. Once it was determined I was involved in the accident, I was relived from my first responder duties and taken to the side to be checked out. My parents felt I was not in need of being taken by ambulance, however they decided to take me to the hospital for further review and testing.

I later learned that one of the witnesses to the accident was a doctor, he came up to the at fault vehicle and said the driver was deceased by the time he had arrived to help. Knowing that I was the last person to see the driver alive, this memory will forever be etched in my memory. We received the highway patrol reports almost a month later, it was determined the driver was under the influence. According to statistics, the highest cause of traffic fatalities is driving under the influence, speeding, distractions, and bad weather. I am not sure if there were any distractions, however 3 of the 4 main causes were present in this accident. The next day I learned from the press release that the driver of the car was a 32-year-old male who lived less then half a mile from me. The following is part of a news article: “A 32-year-old Sebastopol man driving east in a Toyota Matrix swerved into the opposing lane and struck a Ford transit van, deRutte said. The transit van continued and hit an Acura RDX, while the Toyota continued west and hit a box van, causing the van to overturn onto its roof.”

I feel I was able to utilize a lot of steps to make this situation better and safer, If I were not being defensive and careful, I fear for how much worse this accident could have been. I do not know if I would have necessarily been able to follow Tommy Lasorda’s quote. “Baseball is like driving, it’s the one who gets home safely that counts.” I might not have been home safely if I was not using some of the steps for being a safe driver. I was not distracted by my phone, I was buckled up, keeping a safe distance and speed. Some other steps are keeping your car in good shape, unfortunately my car was brand new, and I only had it for 6 weeks, therefore it was in great shape.

My father is a truck driver and one of the many phrases he has told me over and over is “expect the unexpected” Always assume that car is not going to stop and come at you, always assume that car is not going to see you as they change lanes into your lane. Always have your foot ready to stop. One of the biggest lessons of defensive driving. I think from having this engrained in my mind since I was learning to drive has been a huge part of helping me with my driving safely. I have always been a huge softball player, I traveled around the state playing in tournaments since I was 9 years old. It is fitting that my quote would include 2 items that are important to me. In softball hitting a homerun was always such an adrenaline rush. I will never forget the time the bases were loaded, and we were losing the game. I was up with 2 outs and of course the clinching last inning of the game, 2 strikes on me. Pitch comes in, I swing away and over the fence the ball goes, GRAND SLAM!!!! Running safely home knowing I just won the game is something I will never forget. In my driving, I love having the same outcome, always getting home safely.

Works Cited

NHTSA Media. “2019 Fatality Data Show Continued Annual Decline in Traffic Deaths.” NHTSA, 1 Oct. 2020, www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2019-fatality-data-traffic-deaths-2020-q2-projections.

NHTSA Media. “2019 Fatality Data Show Continued Annual Decline in Traffic Deaths.” NHTSA, 1 Oct. 2020, www.nhtsa.gov/press-releases/2019-fatality-data-traffic-deaths-2020-q2-projections.

“California Highway Patrol, CHP, Fatal Crash, Highway 12, Santa Rosa, State Route 12.” Sanfrancisco.Cbslocal.Co, 4 Jan. 2021, sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/01/04/2-fatal-crashes-reported-in-santa-rosa-along-highway-12.

“7 Steps You Can Take to Become a Safer Driver.” Www.Metromile.Com, 16 Apr. 2018, www.metromile.com/blog/steps-to-safer-driver.