“In The Drivers Seat”

I’ve only been in three car accidents over the course of my life. Two resulted in the car being totaled and one where there weren’t any significant damages to the car. The most recent accident was very traumatizing for me and it’s taken me a while to realize that. It was last fall. My mother was driving me home from an event I went to. It was dark out, we were smooth sailing on the highway, listening to R&B/Soul music, debriefing about our day, talking about life, the future and all of a sudden a family of deer went into the road. I point in front of us and yell out “Mom! watch out!” The Car in front of us slams on its brakes in an attempt to not hit them and we are surrounded by long semi trucks. “Boom!” I can still remember the sound the car made as it hit the back of the Vehicle in front of us, the sound of the airbags deploying, the sensation I felt in my body as it happened, the smell of smoke and chemicals coming from the front of our car. I remember the sound of cars passing and their lights glaring through the car windows. It was overstimulating. My mother tried to open the door, but couldn’t without risking her safety due to the many cars zipping past us. We called 911 and waited until emergency services arrived. I remember hyperventilating, crying, struggling to calm myself down. Eventually, local police and paramedics came to the scene. I remember the paramedics breaking open the doors to get us out of the car. The whole front of the car was smashed into the car in front us. I was shaking, with a pressure in my chest for the rest of the night.

Fastword to present day. This experience was so traumatizing that it impacted my driving. I am very anxious and reluctant to drive. I am always trying to avoid driving at night and freak out If I even see movement near the side of the road that leads to a forest because I think it could be a deer and I don’t want to hit it. The slightest movement from cars that suggest they are about something a little reckless makes me want to stop in my tracks or move away from the car even if I can’t at said moment. My anxiety about driving has turned what most say is an easy, enjoyable, freeing experience to a stressful one. Despite this, it’s made me a very cautious driver that takes safety seriously. If I feel like I will struggle to drive a route, I will go a longer way. I am always having my car’s safety features like lane check, collision warnings, and backup cameras. I check my car frequently to make sure it is fully functioning so that I can avoid issues that can result in accidents. I follow all traffic laws and will leave a big space between me and other vehicles if I even sense that they are driving carelessly because as a new driver I am scared my slow reaction time to their inadequate driving will result in an accident.

I know I am not the only person who is afraid of death or injury due to reckless driving. Initiatives like more enforcement of safe driving and laws by our local Police Departments. Also improving drivers education programs. The programs in my state are not very engaging, making students lose focus, prohibiting them from actually understanding and retaining content that could be life saving. This could be achieved by not having the whole class be filled with mainly videos about the dangers of drinking and driving. I agree that understanding that driving while intoxicated is dangerous and important to know, but it is not the only thing that students need to learn. There should be more of an emphasis on skills like how to handle a car in terms of changing oil, getting it serviced, changing tires and pumping tires with air. Also, certain scenarios like when you’re near a school bus, pulled over by the police, a driver is blocking the road and how to gauge when to move the car to avoid accidents, and how to maintain the car. There’s so many skills drivers need to know and understand before hitting the road that driver education programs can do a better job of helping students absorb and retain. The more prepared drivers are to get on the road, the safer and more enjoyable the road can be.