Name: Carlos Vincent Garcia
From: Mckinney, Texas
Votes: 0
The
Youth
It is so crucial
the youth learn more and more about driving safety. I know at a young
age it was enlodged into me. When my father was 15 he got in a severe
car accident. When I was 16 years old I also got a call that one of
my best friends from little league football had gotten into an
accident that put him in a hospital in the same shape. This essay
isn’t meant for you to feel sorry for me or a pity story. It’s simply
just an essay written by a teenager trying to spread driving
awareness to a more youthful mindset of people.
My father was 15
years old when he got into his first accident. But it wasn’t a normal
accident. He was with a group of friends and was in the passenger
seat having a good time, as most teenagers do when they’re out with
friends, when all of a sudden they hit a tree because they got
distracted messing around with each other in the car. Everyone’s
lives changed forever after that moment. There were 6 people in that
car. Four of them got up and got out on their own but my dad and
another girl weren’t so lucky. I was told that my dad was just on his
back on the ground looking up just thinking he was dead. He flew out
of the wind shield and landed in the grass. Him and that other girl
were care flighted to the nearest hospital. I could only think what
was going through my grandma and grandpas heads. My grandma told me
that she went to the scene and went to the tree and couldn’t even hug
the tree it was so big. My father almost lost his life that night,
all because they were horseplaying in the car. His life still isn’t
the same. He is 40 years old now and because of that time he now has
scars and had to get a total hip replacement. His life is far from
normal. But he has to live with his decisions and look on the bright
side of things and keep pushing for himself and others around.
However he was very lucky to be here today.
I’m gonna tell
you another story, but what’s different with this one is that it
doesn’t have the same ending but somewhat the same beginning. His
name was Adrian Solorzano but we called him Fed. He was 17 years old,
the same age as me right now. He was driving home early from his
friends house with someone in his passenger seat, when all of a
sudden he falls asleep at the wheel. He went off the road and flipped
his truck and flew out of the windshield just how my dad did. However
the one in the passenger seat flipped with the truck and was
completely fine after. Fed was also care flighted to the nearest
hospital around as well. He passed away soon after. That’s two
stories with similarities. The lesson here is drivers safety. A seat
belt goes a long way. I remember one thing from feds funeral that has
stuck with me forever and I think about every time I get in a car.
Feds dad said “use this tragedy as a lesson for you younger kids,
it takes 2 seconds to put on a seat belt and save all this
heartache”.
That got me
thinking how can I help people not go through the things so many
people in this world goes through due to driving safety. Put a seat
belt on, don’t drive when you feel you can’t listen to those driving
classes, and most importantly never ever drive under the influence.
There are more people in this world that will hurt other than you. It
is so important for people to know the rates that people pass away
from driving safety because we as a community can put a stop to it.
We can take steps and spread the word as one.
