That Could Never Happen To Me

12 pairs of shoes squeaked and pounded on the hollow court. EEERRRRRR. The buzzer went off signaling the end of practice. Me and my sweaty teammates trudged to the middle of the court.

“Alright girls great practice today. Everyone meet at Miah’s house in about 30 mins for team dinner and don’t forget… wah wah wah…”

Standing with my hands over my head, inhaling shallow breaths into my worn-out lungs, I tuned my coach out. We had late practice today so on this cold, December night, it was pitch black outside and I was tired. As we took off our shoes and changed to get ready to leave, my teammates were yelling out how to carpool to Miah’s house. Only 3 teammates had their cars that day. Me, Miah, and Hannah. For context, at 16, I had just gotten my license. And since then I had never gotten to drive anybody anywhere before. I longed to have fun car rides with my girls just like every other teenager. Day in and day out, I would drive in silence with my Frank Sinatra tunes sadly echoing against the car walls. And I would look longingly at that car stopped next to me with a group of girls giggling and screaming at the top of their lungs to Taylor Swift.

“5 people are riding with Hannah, and 5 with me,” Miah said.

“Bruh there’s literally not gonna be any room,” Hannah chuckled.

Feeling left out, I quietly whispered. “I guess nobody wants to ride with me.” Not expecting a response, a teammate shouted, “I’ll go with you Dzifa.”

My sunken heart felt giddy, and I tried to hide my stupid smile. She and I walked to my car. It’s finally happening. This is going to be so much fun. I should probably play SZA so we can sing along. These excited thoughts were running through my head as I was starting the car. Attempting to make my 2009 Camry look fancy like the newer cars, my dad and I installed a screen. This makeshift screen would give me some problems with my music and it would keep shutting off.

“Dude how long does it take you to pull out,” she said

Immediately I rushed and started leaving the parking lot. I am naturally slow. I needed a few minutes to set up before hitting the road, but at this moment I rushed my routine. I was fumbling with my USB, trying to connect my phone while I was pulling out of the parking lot. Huge mistake. What if you crash the first time you have someone in your car? This funny thought crossed my mind and I laughed because that could never happen to me. In the dark night, we pulled out of the lot and onto the long straight road ahead. Approaching a stoplight, the bright red shine of the brake lights of the car in front of me shadowed our faces.

Let me put on some SZA. I thought while I dragged my eyes away from the line of cars in front of me. Reaching for my cable, I fumbled with the thing, trying to get my screen on and sift through my playlist. Doing this, I was unaware my foot was not completely on the break. My car inched forward. Slowly, slowly, slowly. I picked a song.

“Oh my gosh, Dzifa I love this song. Is that from her new albu-”

THUD. A huge force propelled our bodies forward and I hit my head on my stirring wheel. In shock, I stared out at the firm hood of my car, which was crushed and lifted towards the front shield. Sticking up in the air.

“DZIFA WHAT DID YOU DO!” she shrieked.

“DZIFA.”

No thoughts formed in my mind. My jaw slacked in shock. My eyes were as wide as saucers. I stared out of my front shield for what felt like hours. Unable to move. So gone I didn’t notice when she got out of the car. Still in the middle of the road, my fogged brain faded into reality when I saw cars honk and drive around me. The owner of the car I just rear-ended pulled over and walked towards me. Wait. What do I give her? License and registration? No wait do I call the cops? Frazzled thoughts stormed my head as the sweet-looking woman came towards me and signaled for me to pull over. With shaky hands, I pulled over, and with shaky legs, I got out of the car. Heat floods my face as I see my teammates on the sidewalk huddled up peering at me with judging eyes. I stood on the sidewalk in the cold looking at the damage I made in shame, embarrassment, and guilt. I never thought this would happen to me.

Reflecting on this experience of mine, I’ve learned that it only takes a split second to lose a life on the road. Nobody is exempt from tragedy. We can only control our actions and the decisions we make. The biggest culprit for road accidents is distraction. Distraction is everywhere. Whether looking at something out the window, zoning out, checking the phone, talking to another person, sleeping, fixing something, or even eating. There are many forms of distraction for drivers and each one is deadly, no matter the scale. Driving requires a driver’s full attention. Anytime one feels as though their complete attention is not on the road, they are at high risk. With all these forms of distraction, how can we possibly prevent them all?

The first step we can take is to teach drivers the practice of setting up before hitting the road. Whether it may be adjusting your mirrors, fixing your hair, or in my case, picking a song. As much as possible, anything that will take your focus off the wheel, must be set before you begin your drive. Mandating this practice in Drivers Education classes will be extremely beneficial for our future drivers to learn the importance of focus. In my experience, I knew I had to fix my USB cable and screen connection yet in a rush I decided to attend to them while I was driving. A couple minutes to get settled before driving is more worthy than hours spent dealing with the aftermaths of a reck or even worse a lost life. Everybody hears about the statistics of road accidents and deaths. Nobody takes it seriously until it happens to them.