We Are Not Invincible

Behind the wheel, I saw my narrow window of escape rapidly closing as the speeding truck to my left forced me off the road towards the guard rail. I watched the side mirror flying off onto the highway and heard the window shattering behind me as traffic continued to rush past all around me. The truck hit first, but the realization hit harder. The damage was done and irreversible. In an instant I went from cruising along feeling calm, confident, and careful to crashing feeling completely devastated.

Some things in life are simply out of our control. I could not control the other driver by forcing him to avoid me, to slow down, or to switch lanes. The reality settled in and the magnitude of the situation weighed on my chest. All I could do was be grateful it was not worse. I could have been seriously hurt, my vehicle could have flipped, or it could have caused more crashes. This acknowledgment of a lack of total control over one’s surroundings could create a sense of deep anxiety in operating a motor vehicle. However, it is essential to also acknowledge the choices within one’s control that can have a major impact on your safety.

I checked my blindspot which is how I knew the truck was approaching. This small action gave me the opportunity to take evasive measures upon realizing I could not escape a collision. These are skills one can learn and practice in driver’s education and defensive driving classes. Another vitally important habit taught in driver’s education is wearing a seatbelt. This essential rule is too often dismissed as a suggestion rather than a necessity.

I was wearing my seatbelt, as always. A seatbelt serves more than one purpose. First of all, they secure the driver and passengers in their seats in the event of a crash where the momentum would otherwise send them flying forward. This prevents many serious injuries or deaths on the road. This is what most people credit their seatbelts for accomplishing. The less commonly credited purpose of seatbelts is keeping the driver secure in their seat at all times. The seatbelt prevents sliding on turns or elevating off the seat on bumps. This keeps the driver in better control of the vehicle, therefore protecting and preventing a crash before it can even happen.

I have witnessed people in my life neglect the proper use of seatbelts because “it feels too uncomfortable” or “I don’t plan on getting into a crash”. The ignorance of these feeble excuses stems from the feeling of invincibility we find within ourselves. The mentality of “oh that would never happen to me” is not only foolish, but deadly.

The mild discomfort of the seatbelt against one’s body is certainly more tolerable than the excruciating pain of one’s body through the windshield. The imagery of an event such as that is horrific to imagine, yet nonetheless the danger is very real.

Nobody plans on getting into an accident– that is why they are called accidents. They can happen when you least expect it. Is it worth compromising your safety for the sake of looking cool? Most people would say no. Still, we are undermined by our own sense of invincibility.

In driver’s education, my class had to watch videos about teen drivers who died behind the wheel because they chose not to wear their seatbelts. I sat with tears in my eyes as an older woman recalled the death of her 16 year old daughter who could have reached adulthood had she simply worn her seatbelt. Tragically, there are many stories like this. Her story in particular resonated with me the strongest because her mother reminded me of my own grandmother. To imagine her having to speak about me in that situation is heartbreaking; or to imagine myself having to speak about a friend, to have to use their name in a desperate plea with other young drivers to prevent them from making the same careless mistake should not be necessary to open people’s eyes to the reality we all face.

You are not invincible. I am not invincible. Nobody is.

Everything taught in driver’s education is very valuable. There are so many important skills a new driver should master before obtaining their license. Yet the fatal flaw of so many of us is how we neglect to recognise our own mortality. It should not take something as big and life altering as a serious crash or the loss of a loved one to do something as small and life saving as buckling up before hitting the road.