How my car accident changed my life

I have been driving since the day I was able to get my permit, almost 5 years now. I am incredibly aware of how quickly timid, terrified, and cautious driving can turn into overconfident, distracted, and bored driving. Within a few months of getting my license, I was already turning to bad habits out of boredom of driving, and due to watching my friends be distracted drivers and feeling like I had to do the same to be cool. Now that I have grown and matured, I at least understand the potential consequences of my distracted driving, but it still remains a habit I have yet to break.

Only 6 months after I got my license, right after my 16th birthday, I was in a horrific car accident that, luckily, was not my fault. I had a green light and a distracted driver had T-boned me on the drivers side going 40 miles per hour. I walked away from the accident with my car totaled, but no bones broken, not even scratched up, only mildly sore. In my head, this felt like a miracle. The spot in which this driver hit me and at that speed could have ended up being a fate much worse. I swore right then and there I would never drive distracted again, as I saw how not only could it put my life at risk, but someone else’s as well.

It took me about 6 months after my accident to be able to build up the confidence to drive again. Petrified is an understatement – I would break down into tears when I was in the passenger seat and someone came even within a few feet of the car. I actually had to enroll in EMDR therapy to be able to drive again. I drove myself to my first day of junior year the first time I drove after the accident. I went 20 on main roads, came to almost a complete stop to turn, would wait for 15 minutes to turn left at a blinking yellow, and would repeatedly make sure everyone in the car had their seatbelts on before putting the car in drive. Again, it only took a few months for this carefulness to become carelessness.

People around me are still stunned that even after all I went through, I can be such a careless driver, and to be frank, I am stunned too. My most common distracted driving habits are as follows: texting and driving, listening to music too loud, having too many people talking in the car, and driving while zoned out or too tired. It is horrific how quickly it can turn from responding to a text real quick while at a stop light (which is still dangerous and illegal) to fully texting while the car is in motion. Even after a distracted driver could’ve taken my life, it still feels easier to give into distracted driving habits.

Here is how I am hoping to put an end to my distracted driving habits. Like most teenagers and young adults, it feels almost impossible to drive without music, which is why I purchased a bluetooth music receiver that does not involve a wire, so that way I can have my phone in the back or trunk of the car so that I’m not able to easily access it while driving. This limits texting and driving entirely, and though I was hesitant, I realized no text or call is so important that I have to answer it while driving. As far as listening to music too loud, I have tested to see how loud the music in my car has to be for other people to hear it, and I intend on always listening to it on a lesser volume. I figure if other people can hear my music, it’s likely too loud for me to be able to hear what is happening on the road, horns, sirens, etc. I have also set a firm boundary with my friends that only one person in the car can talk at a time so that I can best focus on the road, and they have been great at abiding by this. Finally, I know many of us have made stupid driving mistakes because of driving while tired. This is also distracted driving. I have made a conscious effort to always have a back up plan of getting home when I;m with my friends or out for the night in case I am too tired to drive home, whether that be Uber, public transit, or someone more awake taking me home.

My largest motivation for driving safer is thinking back to the horror I felt during that accident, and I feel incredibly guilty for thinking I possibly could have been the person to inflict that fear onto someone else. Additionally, my life is just getting started, and I would hate to have something horrible happen to me just because I couldn’t put away my phone for a few minutes. I hope that this new caution while driving will not only make me a better driver, but also inspire others to be.