Exploding Campers

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You need to know how to crawl before you walk. You must know how to walk before you run. And you must know how to drive and drive responsibly. I’ll be driving along in my scrappy old Toyota Corolla, and I have a moment where I realize I am driving in a car that weighs over 2,000 lbs, and I’m driving at 65 miles an hour. It shocks me how normalized driving becomes when it’s one of the most deadly things a person can do each day.

The importance of driver education is that it is preventive action. If there were no rules or boundaries, then we’d have even more driving deaths. If you don’t meet the standard, you should not be on the road, because it is irresponsible to be putting other lives at risk.

When I was 15, I rushed to get my drivers permit. I wanted to get my license right away, and I wanted to be able to finally drive myself to all the different places I wanted to go. So, I went to the DMV and had to take the online drivers permit test. The test is about 45 minutes long, and I barely passed by getting the last question I needed right. I was relieved and excited.

It took me a long time to get all the 50 hours of driving in, but I finally finished, and it was time to finally get my driver’s license and finally be set free on the roads. I stepped into the DMV nervous but excited and went for my test drive. I fully expected to get my pass, take my photo, and sign for my license. But the test instructor took me aside and said I couldn’t get my license because of a mistake I’d made at intersections. I was disappointed and felt terrible. I went back in for a second test drive a couple weeks later, and I finally passed.

But the point of my story is that if I had gotten my license before, I could’ve hit someone else and made a life-ending mistake. This is why it’s so important to have driver education. To protect yourself and others around you.

In 2023, about 40,990 people died in vehicle crashes. We need to prevent this, so what action steps can be taken to take over 40,000 deaths to zero? Never drive under alcohol influence. Always buckle. Buckling reduces the risk of death and injury by nearly 50%. Stay within the speed limits. Obey all signs and instructions. Avoid distracting things like radio stations and food. Lastly, always, always, always stay off your phone. All of these habits are the right steps to reducing deaths of the drivers on the roads around you.

June 1st, 2019, my life could have changed forever. All because of a phone. When she heard the news, my mom’s face dropped, and my family ran for the car. We all piled in and drove to the far side of the town.

My dad was bringing our little pop-up camper out of storage for the family camping trip we were planning for a couple days later. He was towing it with our old Sienna Toyota. The scene we arrived at was nothing but horrific.

The blue glittery shine of the paint was scraped clean off the side of the van and was left in shreds on the pavement. The deep dents and bangs into the car were ugly wounds, and it was completely totalled.

I could’ve lost my father that day. He was coming down a hill, and a lady was on her phone and hit, swiped, and ruined the drivers side of the van, hitting the camper at the right spot. It exploded. Blown into bits. The card games and kitchen tools were flown from the camper, with a bowl flying and landing in front of the van. The camper had literally exploded. The neighbors could hear the bang the collision made. My dad was okay, and he went to check on her. She was shocked and said she was fine, and she apologized over and over again.

But when the police came, she wasn’t feeling as bad. She tried to pin the blame on my dad. She kept saying how she hadn’t done it, but the police could clearly see what had happened. She took the fault, but we didn’t get a camper ever again. It was also hard to find a van like the one we’d loved.

That’s why driver education is so important. It could save your life. The steps you can take to keep people safe start with awareness. Be aware of your actions on the road. Stay in your lane, stay alert, be respectful, and stay ready. Your life is priceless, and so are the others around you, so treat them that way.