Name: Abigail Hope Skena
From: Orlando, Florida
Votes: 0
It Could Be You
In my hometown, I
witnessed the aftermath of a deadly car crash when I was 10 years
old. One of my neighbors, a 17 year old high school student, was
found dead in her warped shell of a vehicle lodged in the 4-foot high
stone wall surrounding our neighborhood. Flowers, candles, and
pictures filled the crash scene over the next month in her memory and
I believe every single mother in our town pounded a simple lesson
into their children’s heads after the accident: Never text while
driving.
Every year,
thousands of students across America are exposed to the horrors of
reckless driving through various forms of media. Tragedies are made
into stories broadcasted by the news, they’re made into examples by
educators, they’re made into statistics by insurance companies- it
seems that America is so familiar with the issue of reckless driving
that we’ve accepted it. Despite the horror we feel when we hear of
a crash and the emotional turmoil loved ones endure after a death,
steps taken to protect future victims of reckless driving are few and
far-between.
Accident
prevention begins with education. Maneuvering a vehicle requires
experience and focus, and it is imperative that even the most
informed drivers stay alert and cautious at all times. Drivers
education courses warn of the dangers associated with driving under
the influence of drugs and alcohol, texting while driving, and
driving while distracted or exhausted. The majority of crashes occur
due to these issues, and all are completely preventable. Despite
being one of the most cautious drivers I know, my big sister got into
a crash about a year ago while driving herself home from a funeral.
Distracted by the grief over the death of her best friend’s father,
she drove negligently in an emotional state and crashed into a fence,
risking not only her own life but every single life surrounding her
at that intersection. My heart shatters when I think of the tragedy
that could have been, and how easily she could have just called for a
ride rather than subjecting herself to the dangers of reckless
driving. It is important that every driver understands that while he
or she is behind the wheel, his or her only job is to be an alert
driver. Every crash is preventable.
