Blink of an eye

It was 1:05 on Sunday afternoon and my car was smashed. It looked like an accordion and I was trapped inside. I didn’t know what to do. I sat there waiting for the ambulance to get to the site, unable to move. This head on collision could have been fatal to anyone. I was lucky to just be alive and breathing. All I remember is watching the truck drifting into my lane and not slowing down. When I came to consciousness, my whole world was changed. I couldn’t move and my back was in excruciating pain. I remember looking out the cracked windshield at the other car that smashed into me and seeing no one in the driver seat. Instead, I saw him walking around the accident scene. I didn’t understand how after such an impact someone could not be injured and stuck in their own car. That’s when I realized that driving is not as simple as people might say it is or think it is. Sure, it is convenient and easy to get behind the wheel, press the gas, and make a turn, but once you are on the road, your life and every other driver’s life is put at risk and in jeopardy. In the blink of an eye, I went from a healthy college athlete to a girl in the emergency room with a broken back. No portion of it was fault of my own.

Having a driver’s license is a privilege, but that comes with precautions too. You have to be responsible, cautious, and aware of those on the road around you. In the professional world, licenses are given to people after they pass an exam, and it is the same with driver’s education. You get a permit after you have proven that you understand and are able to comply with the traffic laws and manage a vehicle. However, once you have passed the test, you never have to do any further education to be allowed to continue to drive besides pass an eye exam. As you age, your skills diminish, just like any other skill. One way that we could help prevent so many deaths on the roads is by having a more in depth drive exam each time you have to renew your driver’s license. This would ensure that those who have driver’s licenses are knowledgeable and able to perform the tasks necessary without any issues. We require professions, such as doctors and lawyers, to maintain their licenses with continued education. We should require the same for those with drivers licenses.

Driver’s education is very important for all ages to help them learn how to drive with caution and care, but also with responsibility. It additionally allows them to learn to drive with confidence instead of fear. In the case of my accident, the other driver was driving irresponsibly. He was driving with a diagnosed medical issue that could affect his driving, and it did. That is something that should scream “no drivers license!” Something that I think would be useful in drivers education is to have a virtual reality crash simulator. This will teach kids how to react when an accident happens. It would allow them to know what it feels like to control a car during an accident, how to possibly avoid the accident, and how to drive it after an accident. After my accident, I had a really difficult time getting back behind the wheel due to my own worries and fears about other drivers on the road. I was very hyper aware of those around me, cautious of my speed, and always replaying in my mind the events that happened that Sunday afternoon. A virtual reality crash simulator would be something beneficial to the whole population. It would allow them to see the effects of those who may be reckless driving or feel the effects of a crash caused from reckless driving.

There are many ways that we can become better drivers, but a major problem we face in today’s world is the handheld devices we all have: cellphones. Kids, teens, and adults all have access to their phones, and more often than not, use them while they are driving. This is something that has been a rising problem for years now. People will scroll Facebook or Instagram, text, and Snapchat while they are driving. One thing that could be helpful and beneficial to all users would be to promote safe driving through these same apps and social media channels with ads encouraging safer driving habits. When people see their famous or more popular peers driving safely, they may likely spend more time doing the same, trying to become more like those they watch and pay attention to online.

My life has been changed forever because of one man’s choice to drive with a medical issue. Two broken vertebrae and a compromised disk in my back will create lifelong limitations, many of which are unknown. I am working hard to regain strength in order to be the college student and athlete I once was. I hope to become an advocate and use my platform as a college athlete to promote and educate the importance of safe driving. I am lucky enough to be able to walk away from my accident and be able to tell my story, but with improved driving and improved precautions, I never would have had to deal with this tragic event in the first place.