The Consequence of Driving Distracted

“Sometimes I find myself fixing my hair while driving. Like I have to stop, it’s a bad habit”. Vivian, my classmate said ironically as she let her hair loose, then began to tie it again into a tighter ponytail. The class erupted into a commotion scolding the girl for her reckless behavior. We were all between the ages of 16 and 15 most of us already have our permits, with more already having their driver’s licenses. We all knew the dangers of diving under the influence or driving distracted. I’ve been taught about this lesson ever since I can remember.

Keeping this in the back of my mind as a reminderI tightened my hold on the steering wheel, and gently eased my leg off the brakes. The vehicle immediately began to reverse. My father, who was in the passenger seat, in a calm but conciliatory tone directed me, his hands almost instantly hovered over the wheel whenever I moved the wheel in a different direction. He then followed up with the word “gently,” until we backed out of the driveway until we successfully backed out of the driveway and faced the road.

The class continued to bombard Vivian with criticism for her careless driving as she cupped her hand over her lips and slided back into the chair laughing as she did so. My teacher signaled for quiet when his voice grew slightly louder than the rest of the class. His volume then dropped and began to seem eerie, disturbed as if he had something in his mind that he wanted badly to tell us. This morning I received a call that one of my former students had been in a car accident and is currently fighting for her life. Her boyfriend however died in the accident.The quietness of added tension to the room making the sound of a pen clicking across the room seem almost deafening. The quietness of added tension to the room making the sound of a pen clicking across the room seem almost deafening. My prayers go out to her family. He then paused and seemed to spur out of track. Man, Cheyenne was a sweet girl. How could something like this happen?

I slowly pressed on the gas pedal, and the automobile roared and surging forward in response. The driving wheel was immediately straightened by a hand appearing from my peripheral vision. My legs pulled off the wheel and let the car move forward without thinking twice as my father’s hand firmly clutched the steering wheel. Sweat crawled down the side of my face, the car became intensely hot and my hand began to slip and slide off the steering wheel. To ease the pressure, I apologized and let the car roll down the hill. My leg instantly switched to the brake petals pressing down on it whenever the car increased its speed.

The name rang in my head. That name seems familiar. I only knew a couple of Cheyenne and one was just a couple of years ahead of me. My chest aches with despair. It can’t be her, I refused to believe, but my thought was then interrupted. They have a Gofundme, up online, anything helps. Guys most of you are driving now or are soon to be driving please be careful. You are controlling a 4,000-pound machine that can move over 100mph the smallest mistake and end your or someone else’s life.

I was surprised at how easy driving was. Although I drove a bit slowly everything came naturally to me. I gently stopped at the stop sign and then proceeded after my neighbors crossed by. I smoothly turned the car around the corners of the neighborhood, continuing to drive around my neighborhood with ease. At some point my father and I were deep in a conversation about our favorite soccer team. My father informed me that they were selling my favorite player for a player with lesser skill than him. I then began to trash the player being traded into the team. Then taking my eyes an instant to look at my father hysterically laughing. Watching my father laugh brought me happiness, but almost immediately I watched as his gleeful laughter turned to horror. He screams my name, causing me to turn my intention from him to the road. My instincts kicked in and my foot slammed on the brakes. In times like this, you release how fragile life is as I watch as two little kids who possibly couldn’t be over the age of seven run across the street with their dog.

Cheyenne was a good student, she was a good person. She worked hard in school, volunteered in clubs, and was a good athlete, that’s how we knew each other. She had a bright future ahead of her but everything was taken away from her. The cause of this accident was a woman had lost control of her vehicle and hit the teens. The reason why she lost control was that she was driving using her phone. Our lives are fragile, it just goes driving with a 3000-pound machine that can move over 100 mph we have to act reasonably. Taking my eyes off that road for a split second almost resulted in catastrophe. From that day after driving with my father and hearing about Cheyenne I vowed to do better when it comes to driving.