With Freedom Comes Responsibility

Shards of glass in my hair. Shaking still from the very small accident, and knowing it could’ve been so much worse. My feet are sore from walking down the uneven dirt road just to get into cell phone range to call a parent for help. My accident with 3 of my 16 year-old high school friends was not tragic. Besides the totaled vehicle, no bodily harm was done. What did happen was that I suffered a sort of PTSD. I could not sleep without dreaming of it, and it scared me to drive, and not just at night or on dirt roads. This accident may have been a very valuable teaching lesson.

My Mother began telling me the minute I received my permit, that anytime I was behind the wheel of a vehicle, I had the potential to kill someone else or myself. I honestly didn’t take these words to heart. What started out as a weekend evening hanging out with some friends turned into taking a drive down a dirt road to a so-called cave in our tiny home town. With a population of only 2800, there is not much to do on summer nights. As a result, driving around happens a lot with the teenagers. We drove down miles of dirt roads out into the woods, and made it to the cave. Knowing night was approaching quickly and being out of cell phone range had me on edge. I persuaded my friends to abandon the idea of hanging out at said cave, and heading back into town. By the time we all were in the car, it was full darkness. The narrow dirt road didn’t leave much room for maneuvering, and we needed to get this car turned around and head in the opposite direction. We began to slowly back up to get straightened out, but unfortunately we were too close to the edge. The car slowly tipped over the gravel embankment and began to roll. I think we may have only rolled 2 or 3 times, but enough for the front windshield and my front passenger side window to shatter. I held on to the grab bar above my head and prayed we would all be okay. The car finally came to a stop on its side, and I remember people asking if everyone was okay. They began to exit the vehicle, but I was so scared, still holding on to the grab bar above my head. The boys began coaxing me out of the vehicle reassuring me I was okay. I unfastened my seatbelt and climbed out of the car. I climbed back up the embankment, and onto the road.

Two of us took off down the road in an attempt to gain cell service to call for a ride. Parents began to show up to pick us up and the first thing that was asked of all of us after seeing the vehicle was, “are you all okay.” The vehicle was totaled, but we were all safe. As I traveled down our road on the way home, I recounted the story for my mother. She reminded me of the words she told me when I got my permit. Driving is never to be taken lightly. I made it home, still shaking from the nerves, and began to get ready for bed. I pulled shards of glass from my hair, and decided to keep them as a reminder of what could’ve been.

The accident was not bad. There are many people that have been involved in so much worse. Some have not made it. I learned an amazing lesson that night. The dangers of driving are not to be taken lightly! Just as my Mom has said. We were not speeding, talking on cell phones, or driving erratically. We were simply turning around on a soft shoulder of a gravel road. We were 4 teenagers who thought we were expert drivers that totaled a vehicle.

There is a very good reason why there is a 6 month law that prohibits youth from driving with friends after obtaining their license. The focus that needs to occur when driving is taken away with the presence of peers. Lack of focus and a feeling of superiority that a lot of high school drivers have are not a good combination.

We need to do a better job of educating kids on the dangers of driving itself, but more importantly on distracted driving. Distracted driving does not happen with cell phones alone. Awareness and education needs to be made, and more accountability brought on kids to improve the skills necessary for safe driving. We need to be encouraging drivers education and the skills acquired through these classes. Parents need to be more strict about the number of teenagers allowed in the vehicle with a new driver, and forcing them to obey the 6 month law. Because one accident, one life lost is too many.