From road to RIP

There was a light frost in Dallas air this evening. This seemingly peaceful car ride was soon interrupted by a nightmare. My grandparents were driving on an overpass on Highway 75 headed south right after dusk when a drunk driver came barreling up from behind them. He hit the back of their car. Their car spun out, ramping the edge of the concrete barrier, the velocity threw them off the overpass. Luckily, there was a hill for their car to roll down, otherwise, they would have been splatted on the ground.

After their car rolled 7 times it came to a complete stop. My grandparents nearly escaped with their lives. My grandma broke so many bones in her body, her spine and robs were broken in so many places they fused her spine with concrete and replaced her ribs with similar material. I remember how they were never able to pick us up after that because they were severely handicapped. The drunk man, however, walked away without even a scratch.

My immediate family and friends have been heavily impacted by drunk drivers and texting and driving. I deeply understand the importance of driver education and how it can reduce deaths. Enough deaths are caused by educated people who “know the risks” that the roads don’t need any uneducated people accidentally hurting others.

The more people become aware of the dangers of driving carelessly or aggressively, the more it will stop. I am not ignorant to say that death numbers could ever be zero, but the more people become aware of the dangers the better choices they can make for themselves and those around them, because a car wreck NEVER affects only one person no matter how small.

The amount of stories of car accidents I have to tell breaks my heart. I am only 20 years old and I have lost and almost lost family and friends to car wrecks. I live in the Dallas area where there are a lot of people and a lot of cars. My friend and I have become a loud voice for the Dont Text and Drive cause.

What happened to my friend because of texting and driving sounds like something from a horror movie, it should have never happend. My friend and her siblings from my scouting organization were orphaned because their dad was texting and driving on the way back from a family camp out.

Both her parents died instantly when he drifted into oncoming traffic and hit another car head-on. The severity of the crash rolled their van off the road and down a hill into a lake. Immediately, water started to flood into the van’s broken windows. The older brother was the only one who remained conscience during the crash. He did his best to save as many of his siblings as he could before the Van was completely submerged. He was able to rescue everyone but his younger brother and parents.

Even though he saved their lives, many of them were half drowned so they sustained severe brain injuries and now require full-time care, my friend included. Years later the oldest son couldn’t forgive himself for being unable to save his brother, so he committed suicide. The car their dad hit was a young family coming back from Disneyland and that crash killed everyone in their car upon impact.

People have to know that their poor decisions behind the wheel dictate the trajectory of other people’s lives. Most people think that one text or one more drink is only going to affect them. They think that they are only risking their own lives, but that is simply not true. You must ask yourself “Is this text worth someone’s life?”, “Am I willing to never live normally again for this call?” Because that is what you are risking: other people, other innocent people.

When I drive I know to drive defensively. Just because I’m paying attention on the road doesn’t mean everyone else is. I have to drive safely for myself and twice as safe for others. I act like I am the only one who can see when I drive as if I am driving with blind people on the road. I have been called a ‘safe driver’ as an insult. I don’t care, I’d rather be insulted and bullied than hurt myself or others, because I know better.

The problem is, that not everyone knows how dangerous driving is, so they start driving more like people do in movies. Culture must make ‘safe driving’ cool again. No one wants to go from the road to RIP but it can happen in a second.