The Night My Future Flashed Before My Eyes

“I just got into a car accident; what should I do?”

“Did you call 911?”

“I haven’t. I was so confused; I didn’t know what to do.”

“Just call 911, and I will be over there in a moment.”

I was at work when I received this dreaded phone call that would have changed my future – our future and the life we were building together. A million thoughts raced through my mind as I tried to come to terms with what my ears had just heard. He sounded evidently shaken.

“What happened? Was he hurt? Was he going to be, okay?”

Immediately, I let my supervisor know that my boyfriend was involved in a car accident and that I had to go where he was. Getting behind the driver’s seat, I had to maintain my composure, which is one of the greatest lessons that I learned during my driver education course.

I slowly pulled up to the scene and upon swift observation, I noticed that his car had been pushed fifty feet into a four-way intersection, and there were fresh skid marks on the road. Traffic officers were at the scene when I arrived, and they had already secured the area using road flares. Road flares are warning devices that give off some sort of smoke and an intense red color to warn other motorists to use caution when passing the scene of an accident.

I met my boyfriend, Terry, and hugged him like my life depended on it. He relayed that he was driving to pick up dinner from a local restaurant. When the accident happened, he was sitting at the red light, waiting for it to turn green. Suddenly, he heard a loud bang, and out of nowhere, he felt himself being thrust into the intersection. Luckily for him, there were no other cars going across. He said that as he tried to gather his senses, he noticed someone bailing out of the sedan that had just rammed into him from behind. This figure staggered by his car past Terry’s, supposedly to check on the state of the “victim.” And before Terry knew it, this man disappeared into the night.

One of the traffic officers came over to introduce himself to me and let us know of the next steps. As we shook hands, I noticed that the officer was looking at and reading my badge. I, too, worked for the Baltimore City Police Department as a crime lab technician assigned to the evidence management unit. He informed us that the car was totaled and that it was not in a drivable condition; hence, my boyfriend had to get his belongings out of the car.

As Terry excused himself to do just that, it dawned on me that this is what it must feel like to be on the receiving side of police services. All the time, I had not been to a crime scene, but rather worked out of the headquarters, handling evidence that told unimaginable stories.

There were no signs of an ambulance at the scene when I got there, and Terry informed me that he had turned down their services, insisting that he was okay. I drove us home, and this reminded me how precious life is.

As he was coming back to his senses, he suggested that I drive him to the hospital to get checked out, as that was the best precaution. Luckily, it was only five minutes away. Since this was still at the height of the COVID pandemic, I could not enter the hospital with him.

I walked back to my car and could not help but break down the instant I got in the driver’s seat. This was the night that the future that we had planned flashed in front of my eyes: getting married, buying a house, and having kids would have all just easily gone with the wind. Just like that.

Sometimes, as a driver, a person may be doing all the right things, but there are other drivers whose behaviors put the lives of other motorists at risk. Driver’s education plays an important role in reducing the number of deaths caused by driving.

In fact, a 2017 AAA Foundation study shows that “driver education is associated with a lower incidence of both crashes and convictions.” Simply stated, it is this the work of DMVedu through driver’s education to make old and new drivers alike aware of risks such as distracted driving and improve their driving skills, with an emphasis on defensive driving and enforcing compliance with traffic laws.

I take it upon myself to make sure that I pay the utmost attention when driving and not be distracted by any text on my phone by ensuring that my device is in drive mode, which blocks all incoming communication. Likewise, to ensure that others are better and safer drivers, I immediately address reckless driving behaviors, such as texting while driving, to ensure the safety of the car occupants as well as that of other motorists. Attending a driver’s education course, together with not driving under the influence nor engaging in distracted driving, can greatly reduce the number of deaths related to driving.

I feel lucky that my story ended well. Unfortunately, other stories do not always have a happy ending; hence, I urge all drivers and passengers to adhere to best practices when it comes to driving.