Know Your Surroundings.

Reese Henderson

DMV Application

July 15, 2021

Know Your Surroundings

Driving is so much more than getting from point A to point B. What people don’t realize is that they aren’t the only people on the road trying to get home to their families. There are more than 38,000 people that die due to crashes on U.S roadways every year and they are the leading cause of death for people aged 1-54. While most of these accidents are caused by reckless and selfish acts like driving under the influence or driving when fatigued. Some accidents are truly just tragic accidents. We, as humans, are bound to make mistakes and what is usually overlooked is the fact that humans made these roadways and there are rules set because of something that happened. Whether that be people running a stop sign or someone not seeing something in their blind spot.

My full name is Reese David Henderson and like most people I got my last name from my dad and my first name from my godmother. Thankfully she named me because my mom’s plan was Skylar, and no offense to any Skylars out there, I just think Reese suits me a lot better. My mom was really close to her cousin, David Tunnell, he was sort of the cool kid because he drove a motor cycle everywhere. They were super close and would always go on rides together so he had a really big impact on my mom. One night my uncle was coming home and there was this intersection that had been known to cause accidents. He was driving on Lancaster where a car turned left from business and struck him. David passed away from instantly from impact. The worst part of my uncle’s passing was that this all could’ve been avoided. It is now the law that cars are no longer allowed to make a left-hand turn onto Lancaster because it is considered a blind spot. This should have been done and taken care of after the first accident. Because of this lack of urgency and humility, my uncle passed away that night. He did not make it home to his mom, dad, or younger brother. My uncle would have been 50 years old this year and who knows he may have started a family of his own.

There are so many aspects to take account for when a car accident has happened. There’s trauma that may never be faced and there’s truly no closure. I wouldn’t blame the driver for this because it was a true accident but my chance of knowing my uncle, who I was named after, was taken from me. When someone gets hit by a drunk driver some families say they don’t blame that person for making a poor choice but I still think they do deep down. While this did happen before I was born, I do feel like a piece of me is missing since I am so close to my grandmother and my other uncle. His name is never really brought up although there are pictures of him everywhere in her house. My mom says she’s no longer afraid of motorcycles but hasn’t gone on one since and the chances of me going on one are very slim. It’s a very strange feeling seeing someone who is supposed to be related to you but feels like a stranger. Personally, my family believes in God and this idea of god’s plan but I know that my mom and my grandma have thought to themselves that they could’ve helped prevent this. What if I called him before so that he’d leave 5 minutes later than he did? Or the big one, what if they made this law a couple years earlier because this all really could’ve been prevented.

I told you all of this just to say, take an extra two seconds and check another time before you make a decision that could alter yours or another persons life. There’s nothing uncool about going the speed limit or being called a grandma by your friends because you want to be a safe driver. I’m sure someone will thank you someday when an accident is prevented because of your ability to put your pride aside and take every precaution to be a safe driver. Also, it’s 2021 there are ubers and so many other forms of transportation that you can take before getting behind the wheel.

Thank you for taking the time to read my essay, for this opportunity, and your consideration.