Temporary

I pledge to be a safe driver, no matter the circumstance. This is not only to protect myself, but others as well. I see my parents using their phones all the time while driving and it makes me as a passenger extremely nervous. I see people not using blinkers, swerving into other lanes, and speeding around others. Since my first car accident in December of 2022, I have come to the realization that lives are a lot more precious than lots of us take them for. We are temporary.

I was involved in my first car accident on the way to my last choir concert of the season. I was in the passenger seat, with my mom driving and my sister over my left shoulder in the back. The crunch of metal on metal remains in my head, playing over and over again as I try to go to sleep, even in July. My newly turned ten year old sister screaming because all she had heard was that noise, and the automated voice that said to exit the car. Airbags. Flashing lights. Call 911. CALL 911. I remember running as fast as I could out of the car and around to the back seat, where I held my sister while she shook. Maybe she didn’t know that the damage wasn’t too bad, but her fear was not to be invalidated. She could barely handle getting in the car for another month. The accident made my moms dream car totaled, and added to my sister’s anxiety. For me, it made me mad. I was mad that somebody could be so careless. We are temporary.

What if my mom didn’t know how to handle the situation? What if we had flipped, and my sister was injured? What if? What if? These “what ifs” built up in my subconscious for months. My driver’s lessons were put on hold, and I watched as my life spiraled. I had to ask my friends for rides to and from school. Sometimes I stayed home, and instead of doing work like I usually would, I tried to sleep, since I had lost at least two nights worth of it since the accident. CALL 911. CALL 911. All I could hear was my mom saying that. If by chance I did get to shut my eyes, I would frequently wake up in a cold sweat, and I’d have to check on my sister to make sure she was safe. I can only imagine what it must have been like for her. Ten years old, she used to be a joyful and funny child. After, though, she became more timid. She should be carefree. But now, she knows. She knows that we are only temporary.

In order for this world to become a better place, one of the first steps should be better driver education. Lives should not be taken by the power of automobiles. Some drivers simply don’t know the rules of the road, and it’s quite obvious. Tests should be administered to everyone, no matter their status in the United States, and a license should not be given to someone that does not truly know how to operate a vehicle. This seems like common knowledge, but in today’s society, it doesn’t seem like many of the people in power know this. Step one is stricter administration of the drivers license. Step two is more consequences for drivers who do not follow the rules. Police sometimes lack in pulling the right people over. It feels selective sometimes, and it absolutely should not feel like that. Going twenty over the speed limit is much more important than going four over, though it seems like the police in my town do not understand that.

On my part, I pledge to never use my phone while driving, and I will always drive like my sister is in the car with me, because I now realize that my life is fragile. Because in a split second, I could be gone. A turn onto a street with no blinker, and my mom could be writing my eulogy. My life is important to not just me, but everyone. So is yours. Though people may not know me, another story of a sixteen year old dying in a car crash doesn’t need to be on the news. If I can change the world one person at a time, I will. And that starts with me, my love for humanity, and my will to live. We are temporary.