I Could Have Been a Statistic…

On October 6th, 2018, I was
headed to my teammates house for team dinner prior to a home
volleyball game. I was unfamiliar with the area of the home that we
were headed to, so I asked one of my teammates if she would allow me
to follow her to their house. I had turned sixteen and gotten my
drivers license just 6 weeks prior. I was an extremely cautious
driver, typically going the exact speed limit or under, constantly
checking my mirrors, and never allowing myself to become distracted.
Despite all of this, when the car ahead of me turned abruptly, I did
not see their blinker and was completely unaware of the fact that
they were turning. Because of my inexperience as a driver I slammed
on the brakes. They locked up, and to avoid rear-ending them, I
swerved to the left. Unfortunately, I slammed into the rear drivers
side of the vehicle with my front passenger side. The front wheel
went up onto the back of their car and caused my vehicle to roll
over. Then everything came to a halt, and I was painfully hanging
upside down by my seatbelt. I heard screaming from the car in front
of me that I had hit, and loud sobbing. It felt like a nightmare I
couldn’t wake up from. I immediately did a mental check over my
whole body, limb by limb, wiggling my fingers and toes to see if I
had any pain. The only discomfort that I had was from having my
entire body suspended by my seat belt. I also had glass in my mouth
and falling into my eyes. I hung there, upside down for over fifteen
minutes, until firefighters and paramedics were able to safely cut me
out of the seatbelt, brace my neck, and strapp me onto a spinal
board. I rode in the ambulance to the nearest hospital where I had to
be closely monitored for internal bleeding, spinal injuries and head
trauma. Thankfully, all of the tests came back negative and no one
else was hurt in the accident. However, I was extremely sore for the
next couple of weeks. I got lucky. With the severity of the accident,
I could have easily become a statistic. I don’t tell you this to
scare you, but rather to instill in you the importance to not just be
a safe driver, but to be cautious of others. I was safe, I was
careful, and I could have been a statistic.

Drivers
education is extremely important in reducing the number of deaths as
a result of driving. During drivers ed they teach you
important ways to prevent accidents. My drivers Ed. teacher made sure
that he pointed out to us the importance of driving cautiously,
because you never know what other drivers may do. That way, you can
make sure that you don’t become a statistic.

Some other ways that you can
keep from becoming a statistic are; turning off notifications on your
phone while driving, having your music ready before you begin
driving, and making sure to always be proactive in watching out for
other drivers. I have found it helpful to follow the 3-4 second rule.
This means, that you find a point along your route, and when the car
in front of you passes it, you begin to count. If it takes you less
than 3-4 seconds to get there, you are following too closely. In
addition to this, it is always smart to have an escape route. When
you are driving, you should always be thinking and planning for, if
something were to happen to the cars around you, where would you
go/drive to avoid being in that collision as well. I hope that these
tips are helpful to you, and that you can keep them in mind, to help
keep you from becoming a statistic when driving.