Safe Driver, Dangerous Road

When I was around 13 years old, my family got into a car accident. We were on the highway on our way back home from having dinner at a friend’s house. My father was driving the car, and I was slouching against the window next to my seat. I was expecting it to just be like any other ordinary drive. It was late out, and there were barely any other cars on the road. Suddenly, our car got struck from the side. Our car spun rapidly in circles until it eventually came to a stop. I felt so confused throughout the whole incident, but when the car stopped, and I noticed my father open his door, I knew to get out of the car and not block the way.

I always remember this accident when I think about car safety because of the important lesson I learned from it, from my bad behavior and from other’s good behavior. When we later discussed the accident, I found out that during the accident my father stayed focused the whole time, and made sure not to push the brakes until after the car had stopped spinning rapidly as to make sure the car wouldn’t flip over from the momentum, and I also found out that in the moment my sister covered her body over my little brother to prevent any debris from possibly hitting him and to cushion some of the impact. At the time of the accident, I didn’t really think about it, mainly because I was still kind of shocked by the whole incident, but now I feel kind of embarrassed. During the accident, my other family members were prepared to prevent as much injury as possible from the accident. Meanwhile, I was slouching against the window feeling sleepy and being unprepared for a possibly fatal accident. However, I am happy to have learned a very important lesson from it, which is that you must always be prepared on the road, whether you are the driver or a passenger or even a pedestrian.

I think that having proper driver education is essential to reducing possible casualties on the road, mainly because even the safest of drivers need to be prepared for the worst on the road. One thing my father has taught me about driving is that you must always be ready for anything to happen, and to not expect all the other drivers on the road to be experienced and safe drivers. The truth of the matter is that the road is a dangerous place, one in which you must stay focused and vigilant in to prevent being put in danger as well as possibly putting others in danger. A safe driver is a prepared driver, and a prepared driver must be prepared to focus during times that one may want to give in to fear or shock. I believe a proper driver education should help prepare drivers not just for success in safe driving, but also for success in situations where failure can be fatal.

I believe that in order to truly prevent as many deaths and injuries on the road as possible we must be prepared, through safety knowledge as well as mental preparation. I always try to remember that during the hit of the accident, I was in a state of shock, not sure what to do or even what was really happening, while my father was able to stay focused, which happened to be very important for our safety and likely saved our lives. I think that we all need proper education on how to be safe and what to do during an accident, even for the passengers who aren’t actively driving.

After that accident, I wanted to be safer on the road, not just as a driver but also as a passenger. I have realized that even passengers need to be ready and safe when in an actively driven vehicle. Dangerous passengers can cause danger not only to themselves but also to the driver and even other vehicles. Being a safe driver means knowing that the whole vehicle needs to be safe on the road, to those within it and to those outside of it.

All in all, even though the accident caused me shock and some physical pain I am somewhat happy to have learned something good from it. I think its important that we learn from the accidents on the road, as doing so is possibly the best way for us to prevent them from happening again. As I like to say, If it keeps happening day after day, then something must change, so let’s learn from the accidents and make this world a safer place for all of us.