Ice and Anger

It was a chilly February night. I had just turned eight years old. Like most eight-year-olds, I was thrilled to be another year older. Although my presents were exciting I had only one gift on my mind: Sweet Frog frozen yogurt. Every time we went to the movie theater I saw the kawaii frog emblem right next door and begged my mom to let me get some. Finally, I got to fulfill my wish.

It was later at night (as most events in my family were) and my mom and I got ready to leave. It had rained the night before so the roads were covered with ice. I told my mom that we could wait another day but she insisted on making the night special since the earlier hours hadn’t quite gone to plan. As I opened the passenger car door, my oldest sister opened the garage door and begged my mom to go with us. Due to the strained relationship between her and my sister and her need for concentration on the roads, she denied the request. Although she resisted at first, she eventually gave in to silence her complaints.

The drive there was fairly normal with my sister talking the whole time per usual. Occasionally my mom would shoot her a glance to be quiet so I could talk, but we both knew that it was no use. I was a bit frustrated, but that seemed to melt away as we pulled up to the entrance. Walking in I immediately smelled the sweet/chilled aroma that filled the room. I only got one flavor and a few toppings so my mom wouldn’t have to break her wallet for the ridiculous price. She insisted that I get more, but I refused. Eventually, we left and I began to lick my spoon as she put the car in drive.

About halfway into the car ride my sister asked my mom if they could stop in a neighborhood on the way home because there were new models that she wanted to look at with her. My mom asked me if that was fine after scolding her again and I nodded without a care in the world. As we were driving out of the neighborhood, my mom and sister began to argue. This wasn’t irregular, but the fight only kept growing stronger. I slumped a little lower in my seat holding my cold treat in my hands. Within a second, my sister screamed in my mom’s ear and grabbed her shoulder from the back seat. My mom screamed at her to stop and tried to reach back, but ended up losing the wheel instead. When she realized our car was drifting towards a mailbox, she snapped her hand back to the wheel to regain stability. Unfortunately, that quick save wasn’t enough. Within a matter of ten seconds, our car had hit a patch of ice and slammed up against the curb. A tree on the side of the street happened to be directly in line with my mom’s window which shattered upon impact. I still remember the eerie five seconds of silence before my sister started freaking out. I looked over at my mom to see her covered in glass pieces, but thankfully no one was injured. I can’t recall most of the details, but my mom still remembers the frozen state of the little girl in the passenger seat. I still continued eating my froyo because that was all I could bring myself to do. I couldn’t tell the difference between the ice particles and the glass pieces scattered throughout the tiny bowl. If I focus hard enough, I can still feel the cold winter wind blowing through the broken window and the sound of absolute silence that filled the car.

Distracted driving has ruined birthdays, relationships, friendships, and so much more. The amount of stories I could tell about emotional damage due to distracted driving is way more than it should be. For example, one of my best friends almost lost her life on the way to school due to a distracted driver. I still recall getting a text on the way to school that my friend wouldn’t be at school for a while because she had gotten in a terrible accident and had multiple wounds that needed severe medical attention. Not only was she injured, but there were four other girls in the car who all suffered injuries themselves. After talking to my friend about it, she still has trouble talking about the situation and she can still vividly remember our school police officer dragging her body out of the backseat of the car. Although I’ve never been in a life-threatening accident myself, I’ve witnessed one happen right in front of my eyes and it replays in my head every time I hear the word “accident”.

If I had to give ideas for solving this worldwide issue, I would say that all new and old drivers need to be heavily educated on the dangers of distracted driving. Not only that but kids should be taught from a younger age than high school about distracted driving and all of the negative connotations associated with it. Most teenagers associate distracted driving with being under the influence, but half the times these instances occur, it’s because of a single text message or the switch of a music playlist. Reminding teens that being alive is a privilege and how to safely do the things they need to do without causing danger is extremely important to the future of distracted drivers. The truth of the matter is, that no one wants to lose someone they love to something so insignificant. Every time you think about grabbing your phone or putting airpods in while your car is in drive, ask yourself if it’s really worth the possibility that it could be the last thing you ever do. We live in a world of constant change and reformation, so make sure that you are fighting against the problem and not the one causing it. I know it can seem like there’s no way someone could possibly die from a simple text, but wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry? Personally, I know I would. What about you?