The Wreck

It was a calm day for me when I woke up on the morning of July 27, 2021. I had been so excited because later that night my significant other was going to pick me up from my house and take me on a surprise date after my practice. The day went on and I went to cheer practice at 4 pm and was done around 6:30 pm. I texted my significant other and told him I was on my way home and that I was going to get ready as soon as I was back to my house. Everything was fine and there was no traffic on my road so it had been a great drive. Then I approached a road that had been known to cause wrecks due to the fact that it curved and people would run the stop signs. I was two minutes away from my house when I approached this road and I saw a black SUV pull up to the stop sign. They seemed to be going fast so I watched their tires and slowed down just in case. I had the right of way because the road I was on had no stop sign and then all of a sudden it happened. A silver car ran the stop sign and I pressed on my brakes as hard as I could just so I could possibly stop it from happening. Unfortunately, that was not the case, I slammed into the side of the car sending us both into a field and taking out the stop sign. I had no clue what had happened and I was shocked. I didn’t feel anything until the burn of my airbags started to feel like they were on fire. The person who was in the black SUV ran out of her car and immediately hugged me and asked if I was okay and I am so thankful for her. I had been so stunned that I had just been in a wreck and it didn’t feel real, almost like a dream. It hit me whenever the firetruck and the ambulance got there when I realized that I could’ve lost my life if it had been worse. In the end, both of the cars were totaled but somehow everyone walked away from the accident with no major injuries. When I spoke with the police they even said that it was a miracle that no one was seriously injured. This showed me how important it is for people to understand the rules of the road and that driver education is crucial to lowering the number of deaths in the US. If more people were educated they could understand the major effects of them not following the laws. Drivers education is given to people who are of a young age and once you get to a certain age some of the things you might not remember and so I think that drivers education needs to be discussed more to adults who are driving. Some steps that could be taken to reduce incidents like mine could be that every certain amount of years people have to be recertified in driver education so that the roads are safer. Another way that we could help this issue is that if someone gets into a wreck and caused it by not being a responsible driver, they should have to take classes on safe driving. We could even make it so once you hit a certain amount of years people need to retake the driving test so that they have to pass to be able to drive legally. For me, I have taken the steps to be a better driver by, slowing down when there are other cars near me and also following the laws and being more attentive when I am driving. I also have started to reduce the number of distractions in my car while I am driving, some of those things being music. To help others be safer on the road I tell my story so that people realize the horrible things that can happen if you are a safe driver. Along with telling my story, I make sure to tell someone to be a safer driver if they drive recklessly, this is a big issue when it comes to teenagers. So to help other people be safer I let them know the consequences of the actions they take. This event still haunts me to this day and I still get nervous whenever I pass that road, but if we can educate more people about driving safety we can stop the tragic things that happen.