Name: Spring Alexanderea Renee Williams
From: Interlachen, FL
Votes: 0
Spring
Williams
Driver
Education Initiative Essay Contest
2
November 2019
It’s
My Loved Ones Lives at Stake, Not Just Yours.
Just
like any other day, I was driving to school. I had forgotten to let
my boyfriend know that I had left the house. I did not want him to
worry, so I decided to send him a quick text. The next thing I saw
was my car about to hit a speed limit sign, so I pulled the steering
wheel all the way to one side. I could hear it slamming because I
yanked it so hard. My car was in the other lane, so I turned the
steering wheel all the way to the other side. My car touched the
grass, so I tried to turn it again. My car went right into a tree. I
felt the impact of the crash radiate through my body. My radio was
stuck playing both some pop station and a Katy Perry CD. The whole
experience was surreal. Had I just crashed my car? Am I okay? The
airbags had deployed because I was speeding. I felt deep in My bones
that I needed to get out of the car, but my door was stuck shut. I
tried looking for my phones quickly in order to call my dad, but I
could not see it. Because the road I was on went in-between swamp
area, the passenger side of my car was in water. I crawled into the
backseat and got out of the driver side back door. This crash still
haunts me. It was almost a year ago that I totaled my car. I was
unable to get into a car without having a panic attack for almost a
week. I still have PTS symptoms, like reoccurring nightmares and
flashbacks and have gained a large anxiety over driving anywhere.
Like
most students I took a Drivers Education Course online but did not
take it seriously and never understood the magnitude of driver safety
until my accident. I did not take the class seriously. Had I been
going the speed limit; my car accident would not have been so bad.
Had I understood the magnitude of texting and driving, the accident
would have never happened. People need to understand that these
things
will
happen to you or a loved one.
I
think that reducing the number of screens in the car will help reduce
the number of driving related deaths immensely. Phone companies,
insurance companies, or safe driving advocacy groups, could make
installing those “Stop texting and driving” apps more appealing,
so that people use them. In new cars there are between two and four
screens. We need to find an effective incentive for people to not use
them. Telling people about the amount of deaths that are happening is
not enough, they do not care, and they choose to ignore the
information.
I
have not used my cell phone in the car since my accident. I have
become more alert. I go the speed limit. Most people only learn from
their mistakes; in these cases, there are lives at stake.
