The dangers of working midnight, going to school full time, and not getting sufficient sleep

My name is Julian Drake Armendariz and in December 2021, I was at fault for a car accident that could have been avoided had I gotten sufficient rest that night. You see I was going to school full time, working full time and also helping around the house. Not to mention projects in the magnet program, homework and exams. It can be overwhelming. My schedule was as follows: School from 7: 15 AM-4:15 PM, work from 5:00 PM-12 AM. This was only Mon-Friday. On the weekends I would work graveyard shift which messed my sleep schedule up and it was hard to train myself for only 2 days of midnight shifts and then switch back on Monday.

Well the day of the accident, I overslept so I just literally jumped out of bed (Friday night), threw on my uniform, brushed my teeth and was out the door. I needed gas so I took another route than the usual one. I fueled up and was on my way to work FINALLY! I got a red light and the other cars had green. It was a 2 lane street that I was aiming to turn right on at the red light. I made a wide turn and to my surprise, collided into a truck that an elderly man was driving. This accident was my fault and luckily no one was hurt. I accepted the financial responsibility for both my vehicle and the victim’s vehicle. All I had to do to avoid this was: not be in a rush, wait 30 more seconds for that green protected light. I am still paying the debt including court fees and the body work for both vehicles.

This was my very first accident and I learned a lot. I have a 110 GPA and know what was expected but I was very cloudy minded due to the constant working and schedule changes. I can use the extra scholarship money so I can return to my somewhat normal life and have some extra money for my college supplies, gas and living expenses.

The year prior, my mother was in a life changing accident that she is still recovering from. She was at a meeting one day and ina great mood because it inspired her to have lots of great new ideas for marketing as this is her profession. Literally the street before entering her employee parking lot, she was T-boned by someone that was going 60 Miles per hour and totally avoided a stop sign. This teen that hit her was texting on their phone and JUST CAME OUT OF COURT. Luckily the teen paid 1 month premium to prove to the court that she indeed has insurance now. The teen was driving a 2020 Ford Mustang and my mom a 2006 Dodge ram 1500 and both vehicles were totaled. My mom has had months of occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, steroid shots in her vertebrae due to herniated discs and rib fractures. She continues with pain and daily migraines. She is slowly but surely getting back to her lifestyle as it was before this accident.

These are only a few examples of accidents that have personally affected me and my family. I understand both sides of an accident now as I have been the cause of one and my mom was the result of one. Both accidents could have been 100% avoided if only both drivers would have been MORE ALERT and not distracted while making these life changing choices of 1. Giving yourself sufficient time to get to where you are going and 2. Putting the phone down until you are at a safe place or just pull over. Fortunately I have yet to be in an accident where there is a hospital involved but my mother was and it was really scary. I will NEVER drink and drive, under sleep and drive, text and drive, have music blasting while driving, or have a lot of people in my vehicle to distract me from the road because I was lucky the car accident I caused was not fatal. I am aware of how lucky I am as well as the other party involved was, it could have been so much worse as the stories we see from the local and national news.

The lesson was learned and luckily it was learned without anyone being deeply affected by my mistake. It was an honest mistake but as mentioned above, 30 seconds can make a huge difference in life or death decisions. I now allow myself about 1 hour to slowly get up and do what I need to do and get safely where I need to go without affecting the lives of others for my mistakes.