Save our Society

Ever since I was a little girl I have always told myself I would be a good driver. Behind the wheel of a vehicle is the most dangerous thing we do every single day. There have been so many injuries and deaths of people behind the wheel whether it be their fault or not. One thing we can all do to prevent this, is to drive safely. Driving safely not only protects us, but the ones around us as well. With the extinction of unsafe driving, comes the start of a better, safer, society.

When I was about eight years old, I was in a serious car accident. My mom was driving with me and my cousin in the back seat. We were coming back from my aunt’s bridal shower late at night during the weekend. I woke up to the sound of screeching and the vision of the airbag knocking my mom out. I just remember my older cousin was holding me steady next to him to try and protect me from any impacts. We slid from the exit lane all the way to the carpool lane, and over the center console of the freeway. We were hit by a drunk driver. It was a hit and run. Thankfully, a couple driving nearby had followed him and taken a picture of his license plate, then came back to make sure we were okay. Eventually, my mom woke up and panicked due to thinking my cousin and I were hurt. Thankfully, I was completely fine since my mom always put me in the middle seat when I was little because she heard it was the safest spot. My cousin at the time was twelve. Once he was taken to the hospital, they realized his entire right side of his ribs were severely bruised. The driver hit the right back corner of the car directly where my older cousin was sitting. It was a miracle that bruised ribs was all my cousin had experienced. The highway patrol officers told us that they predicted if my mom had been driving faster, we probably would have died. My mom was going the speed limit during the time before the impact. My mom had minor injuries. We waited and waited for the police to find the drunk driver who had hit us, but they never did. His mother told them he fled to Mexico a week after the accident. Drinking and driving has always been a huge trigger of mine, considering my home life as well.

My dad has gotten three DUI’s in his life. My dad had struggled with alcohol his entire life and is a known alcoholic. When I was young I remember my mom did not allow me in the car when my dad was driving because she did not trust that he had not been drinking. When I was around ten years old I saw my dad get arrested for the first time. This was his third DUI. The police had tracked him down and came to our apartment to arrest him. I saw the whole thing at ten years old. I cried everyday when my dad was gone. After this my dad stopped drinking. When I was sixteen my dad relapsed and drove off to a bar to drink. He got too drunk at the bar, so the bartender helped set a bed up in the back of my dad’s truck so that he wouldn’t drive off. It is unclear what my dad had done during this period of time, but my mom and I got a call the next morning that my dad was in ICU. I woke up to hearing my mom sobbing on the phone telling the rest of my family that the doctors say my dad only has a 40% chance of living. He had a hematoma on his brain, basically he had a severe bleed on his brain. He needed 27 staples in his head. He was unconscious. When I walked into his room and saw him lying in that bed something died inside of me. I didn’t feel anything. No emotion. I was completely and utterly numb. I wasn’t shocked or surprised to see my dad in this position, but it still hurt so much that my body shut down. In about an hour my dad woke up and didn’t remember a thing. The doctors told us that my dad would make a full recovery and that they had never seen anything like this before. My dad got to go home the next day.

Not only does unsafe driving affect the individual, it affects everyone else on the road, and everyone else connected to that person. Driving unsafely can put yourself and others at risk of severe injury or death. Your loved ones don’t deserve to hear the news that you ended up in hospital due to a decision made based on poor choices. Other people’s loved ones will never forgive the person who put the people they cherish in danger. By driving safely, we can all protect ourselves, others, and society. People deserve to feel safer on the roads. We need to feel a better sense of security when it comes to driving. Drinking and driving is inexcusable. There are so many more options nowadays that can prevent us from having an excuse for drinking and driving. Being late for an event is not an excuse to speed. If someone were to get hurt, or killed due to someone speeding, that event would seem like the most irrelevant thing in the world. Driving safely on the road is something everyone needs to think about and put into action in order to keep our world safe.