Three Seconds

At the ripe age of 17 I got ready for school and brought guacamole and a stick of string cheese for my breakfast, a meal I usually don’t consume. I walked out the door with my backpack on and my breakfast in hand. A good day was coming. I got up on time and even had breakfast. I was determined to get to school early this time. After all, before school is the main time to talk to friends. As I got into my paid for white suv with 372000 miles I turned up the music and started driving to school. I took a sip of my sonic drink that had been in my car for days while I waited for the cars to finally clear up in front of my neighborhood and turn out. One minute of waiting soon turned into five minutes and as I looked behind me a line of cars had accumulated. So I looked both ways and crossed, hoping to help clear out some traffic. Then I heard a crash and the car music stopped. I heard my car skid across the road in front of my neighborhood and the glass crack across my windshield. Frozen in shock I slowly drove my smoking car to the side of the road. The car totaled and the day ruined, I call my mom and 911 about the wreck. I was scared, sad, sore, worried, confused. The minutes tick by as I hear sirens. Friends at school, meanwhile, wonder why I’m not present. They overhear that there was a bad car wreck in front of my neighborhood. My friends put the pieces together and realize that it had been me in the wreck. Now, it’s no longer a good day. Three seconds and a bad choice on the way to a very ordinary school day gave way to many horrible consequences. The wreck was brought on by my lack of patience-patience to wait and carefully look.

Thankfully the other driver didn’t have injuries and the other car didn’t have any massive damage. The day of the car wreck was filled with tears that seemed pointless, pointless because it never should have happened. A very needed car was now worth a about $500.00 and was not drivable. No one was injured but I still cried many tears. A three second decision to turn into traffic cost my family and me days of headaches, muscle aches, tow truck bills, unexpected car bills, anxiety for friends, and car insurance woes. There were problems for my family and and for the man who had no choice but to collide with me. But, everyone knows that those three seconds could have been so much worse. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that in 2021 there were 2,608 deaths among teen drivers. I was alive, I was safe, I was whole. But the trauma, the fears, the physical and emotional hurt caused by a wreck were terrible and frightening. What can be done on the local level and even nationally? What could I do?

Students today have so many car accidents and most are preventable. I see it on my local level and I want to help. In my school parking lot alone, there is a wreck about every two weeks. Parking lot wrecks are caused by lack of patience and forethought, much like my wreck that was caused by impatience. Education is the key to preventing these parking lot woes. The principal and teachers and counselors at my school need to teach students about the flow of traffic at the school and about basic four way stop laws. And I now teach my friends about the consequences of getting too nervous when impatient drivers pile behind. Informally, I educate. It is better to turn right or go another direction, even if it means being late than to turning left across nerve racking traffic.

Those minor scrapes and bumps in the parking lot cause minor problems but do not compare to problems caused by drunk driving, the weekend problem for some teens in my city. According to Bankrate.com more than 230 minors have died in drunk driving accidents this year which doesn’t include all the non fatal injuries. I have thought a lot about what could help. Again, education is the answer. I have heard talk on Monday morning at school. Sometimes, students under the influence decide to drive home after a night out due to fear of getting in trouble with their parents. Driver education is important when considering the national problem of drunk driving. Drivers ed classes need to emphasize the importance of getting home safely, no matter what the consequences of calling for a ride may be. Adults should be made aware that one of the reasons for “just driving anyway”is fear of what might happen if parents are called. Education is the big key to changing the three seconds. The three seconds that could cause financial hardships, trauma, anxiety, injury, or even death.