Name: Jessica Toledo Mendez
From: Phoenix, Arizona
Votes: 0
Drivers
Education Initiative Essay
I
had just felt the most uncomfortable pain in my head, along with a
pounding feeling. My head hit the back of the seat, and I remain
unconscious for only a few seconds until I snapped back into reality.
I looked around the see if my family was alright, and luckily, they
were okay. It was then I had just realized that our family car
crashed into a Fry’s Gas Station. I got out of the car, with my
family, and I stared right back it. The feeling of terror and fear
was real, and I remember feeling terrible, a turning feeling, knowing
that I witnessed my first car crash.
Many
years after this incident, my oldest sister, Jennifer, got into a
terrible car crash with her girlfriend, Alexa. They were on their way
to her friend’s graduation, until one moment, a car slammed into her,
causing their vehicle to hit into a bus stop. The pole of the bus
stop punctured her lungs, and she hit her head on the windshield.
This resulted in a broken nose, a cracked skull, broken ribs, and a
fractured pelvis. Afterward, she was sent to the hospital, where I
cry and worry in my room after hearing the news, thinking that she
will most likely pass away. She still is with us today, where that
incident only remains as a memory from her past. However, I wonder
if she has learned her lesson at all, and understands the
consequences that come with it.
When
I’m in the car with her, I, sometimes don’t feel safe, because of
moments when she isn’t patient enough to wait for a vehicle to turn,
or close moments when the car almost hit’s another car, when in fact,
It won’t at all. Sometimes, when driving, she focuses her attention
on her phone, then back at the street, repeatedly. I would pray to
God that nothing would happen to me or happen to us. However, I know
that, because of her experience, she is careful when her family
members are in the car with her, and I know that she wouldn’t want to
suffer from another accident again.
I
not only wanted to share my story, but I also want others to
understand how important it is to focus on the road. There are a
large number of people out there who speed, are impatient, or don’t
look both ways on the road. Some have family members in the car, yet,
they are reckless drivers, and possibly might put the whole family in
danger. All I got to ask is, “Is it worth going through all this
nonsense to suffer a painful death? How would it feel if you
survived, but your family didn’t? Who is to blame?” Don’t put
yourself and others through this. Instead, learn to cherish life as a
gift, and don’t let it slip away from your hands, because of one
ignorant act.
