An Eternal Second

An Eternal Second

In our society, we view one second as inconsequential. However, in one second, thousands of incredible events take place. In one second, six babies are born around the world, lighting strikes the ground 100 times and 100,000 chemical reactions occur in the human body. Though one second may seem insignificant it has the power to forever change a life: or in the case of this story, two lives.

Thirty years ago, my abuelita was walking the same country road she did every night. However, this evening was far from ordinary. While she was walking, abruptly out of the gloom appeared two brilliant lights that momentarily blinded my abuelita. Before she or the driver could react, the three-ton vehicle struck my 120lb abuelita. This life shattering event lasted merely a second. As the echo of screeching tires and the plum of smoke began to dissipate, a passerby would have seen a middle-aged woman lying helplessly in the middle of the road as a young man scrambling from his car stared at the scene with a face expressing horror and terror.

After the accident, my abuelita had to spend several months in the hospital. When she was finally allowed to return home, she found she was unable to complete the most simplistic of tasks. Her neurological difficulties were to such an extreme that she lost her job. To this day, she suffers from extensive physical pain and profound cognitive difficulties as a result of one second that occurred thirty years ago.

However, as horrendous as this experience was for my abuelita it was equally dreadful for the young man who was driving the vehicle that hit her. When the accident occurred, this man – this sixteen-year old boy – had just received his learners permit. This boy was in the same classes as my mom, had been invited over to her house to do homework and study and had sat at the dinner table while my abuelita cooked dinner. In the aftermath of the accident, he did not drive for the rest of high school. He was so traumatized by the accident that he refused to take the risk of sitting behind a wheel. That horrific second played in his mind like a broken record.

Tragically, my abuelita’s tale is not one that is unique. According to a 2018 report released by the U.S Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety (NHST) Administration, those who were killed in a traffic accident in 2018 largely consisted of individuals who were not even driving. The report stated that the number of fatalities amongst pedestrians and cyclists were 6,283 and 857 respectively. Additionally, the report showed that 76% of these fatalities amongst pedestrians occurred at night. An additional NHTS report showed that in 2017 3,255 drivers aged from 15 to 19 were involved in a fatal car crash. I fully believe that these tragic deaths could easily be reduced with additional mandatory instruction required before one is allowed to receive their license. Too often, inexperienced drivers are so unprepared to drive independently that they prove a danger not only to themselves but to the countless strangers with whom they share the road.

I believe that the majority of these deaths could have been avoided with universal access to driver’s education. Time after time, I have spoken with friends who say how they simply could not afford drivers education and instead simply took their test 270 days after they turned 16. They will express to me their fears that they are unprepared to take control of a wheel – terrified of the risk they pose not only to themselves but the hundreds of other strangers they pass on the road each day. As schools have made the choice to cut drivers education from their curriculum, students such as my friends have found themselves facing an impossible choice. Do they scavenge for these funds: placing a financial burden on their family? Or instead, do they simply wait until they are able to pass the driver’s test and receive their license without having to pay hundreds of dollars in fees? While these fees may seem insignificant to many, they force families to make what could literally be a life and death decision.

Knowing the profound impact one second has had not only on my abuelita and the young man, but countless other people who lie behind the scenes of our story have helped me to understand the immense burden that one carries when they choose to sit behind a wheel. I have taken several steps to ensure that I never prove a danger to myself or to others while driving. These steps have included undergoing thorough driver’s education training (in a classroom, online and on the road), practicing safe techniques while driving, and never driving while distracted. I refuse to let one second haunt me- refuse to let it destroy not only my life but the lives of others whose lives I risk when I choose to take the wheel. Through undergoing driver’s education, I believe I have acquired the tools necessary to honor my promise to always practice as a safe driver: the promise I have made to my abuelita and to myself.