Scarred

When I was 17 I was in a car wreck that totaled my car, permanently scarred my hand, and took a drastic mental toll on my best friend and myself. I was begrudgingly on my way to pick up my little sister from band practice. My best friend, Ella, and I were getting my sister dinner then promptly attending a rehearsal for our upcoming spring theatre production. We sat at the intersection right outside our high school, my foot on the brake, music playing softly as we focused forward at the road in silence listening to the ambient noise of my car. The car in the lane directly across from us started to drive forward towards my front bumper, I layed on the horn but by then it was too late. The driver was intoxicated and had fallen asleep at the wheel, the blaring horn had alarmed the driver’s passenger and caused him to speed up into my car. The impact pushed my car back about 15 feet and thrust Ella and I towards my windshield. The explosion of the airbags and the crushing sound of metal punched me in the chest, while the smell of radiator fluid and particles of glass wafted through the hot air of the car. We stared forward in horror looking into the face of the man who put our lives at stake, unable to do anything other than scream and stare blankly. Ella, who was 15 at the time, tried to get my attention as she tried to gather her bearings and the pieces of her broken glasses. I felt like I had cotton in my mouth as my eyes bore down at the alcove my legs were in. My foot was still firmly on the brake pedal, as I realized how close the metal had been to breaking both of my feet and shins. The man that hit us promptly drove away with an empty promise of returning to the scene of his crime. My chest hurt and my hand was bleeding, Ella had scratches down her face and her ribs were bruising from the impact. We stood shaking on the corner of the street as she frantically called her mom while I was on the phone with a 911 operator. I will never forget Ella’s bruising grip on my hand as she stared at her bloody glasses in the hands of a police officer. We spent the evening in urgent care surrounded by nurses and police. I have a long scar on my hand that reaches from my thumb to my wrist from the airbags and I couldn’t drive for almost a month afterwards. School work was a challenge as all I could think about when I closed my eyes was the feeling of the impact on my chest. Ella spent the entire night in the hospital, getting scan after scan. She still has a scar on her forehead from her shattered glasses and she refused to get back in a car for almost two weeks. Both of us knew the event had changed the way we viewed the intersection right outside our school, keeping us from ever feeling truly safe in a car again.

No matter how basic and pedestrian this event may seem to the outside eye, 10,850 other victims of intoxicated drivers were not as lucky to make it out alive as Ella and I. 31% of all vehicular deaths are caused by impaired drivers and these cases are on the rise. Since 2020, drunk driving related accidents have increased by 14%. Drivers education is imperative to keeping our roads safe for all drivers. My drivers education courses were key in my reaction time and the defensive driving techniques that kept Ella and I alive in that scenario. Educating young drivers on when operating a vehicle is safe and what to do in case of emergency can be the difference between a scar on the hand and permanently marring a femur. Taking the time each year to remind all drivers what is at stake when they’re behind the wheel would greatly reduce the number of drunk driver related deaths verbatim. If a quiz or infographic was sent out every year by a local BMV through the mail or otherwise, defensive driving would become more of a standard practice in both new and experienced drivers. Knowing that no amount of alcohol, marajuana, or any other substance is safe to ingest before or during operating heavy machinery can save lives.