“Mom, I just wrecked your car.”

16 year old me had been anxiously waiting for her license for years. I wanted the freedom to go wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. My birthday came, and I went straight to the DMV after school to take my test and get my license. Excited isn’t even close to describing how happy I was to not have to rely on my parents and friends for rides anymore. I didn’t think I would get into a wreck at the intersection I pass practically every day.

I got my mom’s old car as my first car – a huge 2008 Toyota Sequoia. The Saturday after I got my license I jazzed it up to make it more teenage girly – adding flower air freshener clips, bumpier stickers, and a holographic sticker on the sunroof to make the sun look cool shining in. That Sunday, I was driving with my friend to golf practice for the first time. I’m a very safe driver – never going more than 5 miles per hour over the speed limit, two hands on the wheel, stopping completely at stop signs, and following every traffic rule you could think of. He made fun of me for it – calling me a “grandma driver”, but I didn’t care. I was so grateful to have my own car and I didn’t want to mess it up. I was in the left turn lane. The light had a green arrow, so I proceeded to go and I saw a red Jeep barreling through, and I heard my friend say “They aren’t stopping. Get out of their way”. Before I can even process it, I feel a blow on my passenger side and my car goes spinning over the railroad tracks onto the other side. I can’t believe what just happened. I followed all the rules.

I was hyperventilating – I just got in a wreck the first week of driving and I didn’t even do anything wrong. I didn’t know what to do, so I called my mom and told her, “Mom, I just wrecked your car.” She was obviously furious and she rushed over. My head was on my wheel and I just kept asking “What even happened?” Over and over to my friend. My friend told me she was looking down as if she was on her phone, and since she came out of nowhere we could decipher she was speeding. I eventually caught my breath,and made sure he was okay. He had a few scratches, but he was overall in good shape seeing his side was hit. Thankfully by the grace of God, everyone was safe. We exchanged insurance and when I went to take out my license, I still had the paper copy, and she said “You’re a new driver? Makes sense why you didn’t get out of my way.” I was furious. I wasn’t the one on my phone, I wasn’t the one speeding,and I wasn’t the one who ran the red light. When the police came to get our statements, I told him I was turning left and so was she and we crashed. She said “I wasn’t turning left – I swerved left to try and avoid you.” This is how we knew she wasn’t looking at the road.

I was always told to stay off my phone while driving, and this wreck truly solidified it for me. I was now without a car and if the timing was a second off, my friend would have been dead from the impact according to the police, all because of another individual texting and driving. Any text can wait, and not paying attention to the road does not only endanger you, but endangers those around you. Her car was completely fine due to her steel bumper, but mine was severely damaged. My privilege of driving was quickly taken away from me, but I was just happy everyone was safe, but in utter shock of the effect texting while driving can have on another person’s life.

This wreck truly changed the way I view driving. I still “drive like a grandma”, but I refuse to endanger the driver’s around me because I knew how it felt to be completely innocent but dealing with the harm of someone else’s selfish actions, and I would never want to put someone else in that position. Reckless driving is not worth it, and I make sure all my friends and family know that when I ride with them. Once I got my car back and got back to driving, the anxiety I had at the light I had my wreck at was unreal. I eventually got past it, but my heart still flutters everyday I have to turn left to go to practice.