Distractions can change lives

Distracted Driver vs An
Innocent Life

Its
half past noon as I leave my friends house headed for the local gas
station. I am heading to my dad’s house as I have hundreds of times
taking this exact same route. As I pull up to the intersection of
Price and 1^st
I am stopped by a red light. As I have hundreds of times, I await a
green left turn arrow. Next thing I know my Rouge is on the curb,
inches away from the traffic light. My ears are ringing but over it I
can faintly make out yelling and screaming. As the dust settles
around me, I try move and find my arm jammed in the doorway. I’m
stuck. I faintly remember taking my turn and screaming as a white SUV
barreled towards me, then nothing. I was interrupted by the first of
many migraines that haunt me to this day.

December
30^th,
2018 my life changed due to a distracted driver running a red light.

That
white SUV carried a family driven by their mom. I assume they were on
a route that they, too, had taken hundreds of times. Apparently, she
had taken just a brief moment to check her phone as she approached
the intersection. Well, in that brief moment the light turned red for
her. In that brief moment, I started my turn. In that brief moment
she took from me many more moments.

Her
family, although shaken, were unharmed. I, on the other hand, was not
as lucky. I was pulled from my vehicle by strangers and suffered a
multitude of injuries. My AC joint had been separated, my wrist had
damaged ligaments from being pinned in the door and, unknown to me at
the time, I lost my unborn child.

Since
then I have undergone tons of rehabilitation and needed to see a
neurologist due to the debilitating migraines that started. They had
become so severe that I would become nauseous and couldn’t move. It
ended up costing me my job. I spent most of my days on the phone with
insurance companies to have them pay for the help I needed with
little success and since then have been struggling with driving
without anxiety. None of this helped the bout of depression that I
fell into after losing my baby.

I
feel as though if people were better educated on the consequences of
distracted driving, more people would focus on the road. When I took
my driving test in 2011, I do not remember anything about driver
distraction during the written or practical exam and my little sister
who is studying for her license now, doesn’t see anything about it
either. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to teach her and her
friends about the consequences of distracted driving and have told
them to share with their friends. I even convinced my husband to put
his phone in the glove box when behind the wheel. Distractions are
deadly and drivers should be educated on their consequences.