Saving Lives By Knowing Your Vehicle

I was a young lad when I was in my first car accident, I couldn’t tell you how young. Of course, we were a little late, but God is forgiving. The intersection is one familiar to me, I can take you to the very spot where it happened. There’s an on ramp of note that used to have no barrier, even though it has a substantially steep hill on either side. We pulled onto this road, began to accelerate to highway speed. Then, a small car that I recall as black, though my mother would disagree, is suddenly in front of us, a loud noise, and we were rolling down this steep embankment. By the time I came to the conclusion that this chaotic reality would be the end, that the sunlight flashing though broken windows and flying indiscernible shapes would be the last things I knew, it all came to a halt. I was in a daze and time was distorted, my sight dimmed and the last I knew was the distant sound of a siren, then nothing.

No, this isn’t the end. Not really. But this memory imprinted on me as a child shouldn’t stain other lives. It shouldn’t have stained mine. Who was at fault, I don’t know. Was it the mysterious fellow in the black car, failing to recognize that he couldn’t accelerate past the behemoth van he endeavored to zip around, maybe. Perhaps my mother was a little zealous to get to church, or didn’t realize how far ahead this fellow was from our vehicle. But neither of those things matter. What matters is that action must be taken for the future. I’ve taken drivers education courses, and I watch closely when I drive or am a passenger. There’s a flow to traffic that is undeniable, and with care there’s trends you can predict. When you learn to read these, when you’ve received the education, it only becomes more clear the need to have safe driving practices. Maintain safe distances, check all directions of traffic. Slow down, drive unimpaired. These are instructions that we’ve been given for our entire lives, and living the practices validates them. There’s a few practices behind the wheel that are not talked about so much, and contribute heavily to safe driving. Understanding your vehicle is one of the most important things an individual can do to be a good driver. I drive a ’97 Chevy C3500 that I have done some heavy modifications to, and as a result of all the time I have spent studying and working on this truck I have an innate understanding of its every quirk and dimension. I know very well how quickly it accelerates and stops, how tight it turns, and where the wheels are. I know the blind spots it has, and since I am armed with all this knowledge I am properly equipped to drive it on the road. Knowing it’s length and turn radius I can easily parallel park, knowing it’s acceleration I can pass cars safely or turn onto a busy street without causing trouble, and of course understanding the brakes I am able to watch out for and anticipate situations while I drive where I would be in danger, and slow enough or stop to consistently avoid them. I’ve never crashed it or had someone else collide into me, and I can attribute these things to a great degree to understanding my vehicle. Of course, there was a time when I didn’t know it so well, and I felt much more prone to danger then. I felt like bad drivers were drawn to me, but was it them? No, I think it was me. I think this same principle of understanding your vehicle would have helped with my first accident. If greater care had been taken to know both vehicles, combined with taking proper stock of surroundings, both vehicles involved would have contributed greatly to avoiding the chaos that had ensued.

No one died as a result of my first accident, which is simply a miracle. But some in my family had a fair stay at the hospital and death could have been a real possibility. My condolences are extended to the many who aren’t so lucky in their families. Those of us who know this danger as a result of ourselves and our families being at risk know that safe driving practices must be taught, and are willing to share our stories to help with that. We have our focuses, some to not drive impaired, others to slow down, and mine of course to understand your vehicle. All of these things can be taught, and when drivers accept that being educated in good driving practices like these can and will reduce these deaths or near deaths of our friends and family, they will be all over it. So go out there and take the classes, pay attention to the road, and share your story to protect the next and current generation of drivers and passengers, to save lives.