Life Is A Highway

Life Is A Highway

Katherine Baumgardner

November 18, 2020

Road rage is real. Distracted driving is real. Driving under influence is real. And the death toll for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians is real. And rising.

It is vital for teenagers today to receive proper driving education and to “graduate” from traffic school. We need to know the rules of the road, and we need to be committed to obeying them. I think what the realization for me was that: it’s not all about you. It is about saving lives. As a driver you are responsible for the lives of those in your vehicle and on the road around you. Driving is a privilege and can be taken away when abused (such as with drugs or alcohol). As the great philosopher Spider-Man once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Our awareness of our surroundings demonstrates that we can responsibly handle both the power and responsibility and our driving privileges. Otherwise, we are stripped of such.

As a baby I was in a car accident. There were no fatalities or severe injuries, and I have no recollection of the event. But it taught my mom something – just because you see another driver, it doesn’t mean the driver sees you. In my case, the other driver never saw our car and slammed into us. My mom’s brakes were not fast enough to avoid the collision. Luckily, I have never been involved in a distracted driving accident or a severe car crash. I’ve been spared from that kind of pain. My cousin had his license revoked for six months for a DUI – all because he thought it had been long enough since drinking to safely drive. He was wrong.

Sometimes, being wrong can cost somebody’s life.

A dear friend of mine almost lost her husband in a horrible accident, caused by a drunk driver. Her husband barely got out alive, his car was mangled and blew up in flames, and he was in a wheelchair for a year. Doctors said he would be forever paralyzed, but by some miracle he walks again! The moral of the story? DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE.

Every horror story they tell you during driver’s ed is true. And any of them could happen to you. I think it’s important to recognize that you can do all of the right things and still end up in a bad situation. Sometimes life pits you against your circumstances. But taking the necessary precautions, avoiding distractions, and committing to a safe driving experience are all steps you can take to keep yourself, your passengers, and other road-sharers alive. Because that’s all we really want, right? To stay alive?

If life is a highway like Rascal Flatts croons it is, we have to do our part to protect our lives by respecting the rules of said highway. The minimum we can do is stay alive, and the best we can do is help keep our loved ones (and the perfect strangers!) alive.