Precious Cargo

There has been an accident. The words echoed in my ears, but I could not make sense of what I was being told. The room was spinning. I could hear his mother’s voice on the phone continue, “he did not suffer. It happened quickly. He was gone by the time help arrived.” I hung up the phone and sat silently in the breakroom while my coworkers carried on around me. I pictured Philip and I, just a few weeks before, laughing with the windows down and music blaring – hardly even paying attention to the road. His ‘94 civic swaying in the lane as if to the beat of the music.

Each year in the United States, thousands of families and friends receive the same phone call I did to tell them that their loved one is one of the 34,000 people on average that never make it home. We need to significantly change the way we think about driving, increase access to driving education, and encourage accountability in the drivers around us to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities in our country each year.

Driving recklessly is glamorized in the American media and normalized in American society. Who among us has not answered a quick text while driving, made the decision to drive after a questionable number of drinks, or paid more attention to the screaming kids in the backseat than the road in front of us? We view these as normal everyday occurrences, but the reality is that a split-second decision could result in severe injury to not only yourself and the passengers in the vehicle you are operating, but any number of people around you. If you were given a cup filled with boiling water and told to transport it, you would probably walk slowly and focus on ensuring the water did not spill and burn you. The same concept applies to any number of potentially dangerous situations where we innately give the potential threat our full attention. So why does this not apply when we are going 75 miles per hour in a 2-ton metal box surrounded by other potential threats? Driving needs to be treated with an increased level of severity because it is truly a matter of life and death. Altering the way we view and talk about driving would be a huge step in the direction of reducing the number of deaths related to driving.

Within the current system, it seems that Driver’s Education is a one time deal when you are 15 years old. It is customary practice to receive a pamphlet to memorize some rules, demonstrate your ability to parallel park and then operate freely on the road. None of that teaches defensive driving. Defensive driving is an education in how to avoid accidents and learn to anticipate the dangers around you while operating a vehicle. There are innumerable courses that drivers can enroll in, but they are not a required part of the education. Restructuring the requirements before licensure to include a defensive driving course would set an early precedent for new drivers of their responsibility behind the wheel and how quick decisions and paying attention can save lives. It is never ideal for the first time someone experiences something to be in an emergency as even highly trained professionals are more likely to make mistakes under duress. Requiring courses that teach how to control a skid, what it feels like to slam the brakes from a high speed, how to navigate off the road after a blow out, and how to drive in inclement weather all aid in the ability of a driver to make better maneuvers should something go wrong on the road.

We can all directly impact the safety of ourselves and others on the road by holding each other accountable. We should feel empowered to speak up when we are in a vehicle with someone that is driving recklessly. A reminder to slow down, get off cellphones, pull over to get directions, or use a turn signal could go a long way to help an individual realize they are being irresponsible. The occupants of the vehicle’s lives are on the line. Next time you are running late, think about how much later you will be if you get in an accident trying to speed or get through a yellow light. Let alone how insignificant those few minutes saved would feel if someone were killed. There is no excuse for driving dangerously, carelessly, or negligently – nor is there an excuse for staying silent when you witness those around you doing so. When I drive with friends that are not taking the task seriously either by being distracted or speeding, I will jokingly comment, “geez! Precious cargo!” This is non-confrontational and usually gets a chuckle but also gets them to think about the fact they are responsible for all our lives in that moment, and nothing could be a more serious task.

Philip was nineteen years old when he was killed on his way to work one morning. The people that loved him are left only with memories and the wish that the other driver had made better decisions, and that Philip had been paying better attention and had time to react. We are all responsible for protecting ourselves, the ones we love, and our neighbors on the road. We can reduce the number of people that do not make it home by changing the way we think about driving, educating ourselves and others, and holding each other accountable. We are all precious cargo, and we should all get to make it home tonight.