Crash Course: How One Accident Changed the Way I Drive

I remember the news so vividly. It was right after a softball game when my mom came up and told me my boyfriend had been in a car accident. My heart sank to my stomach and I immediately thought the worst had happened. He had just gotten his license and was driving with his mom. I had never felt worried about him driving before. I had not a single worry when he first began driving. He had taken all his drivers education classes and done well on all his driving tests. But this accident was not his fault. He was driving cautiously, straight down a road when he came to a road that intersected the one he was driving on. He had no stop signs, but they did. As he neared the intersection a car came into view from the other road with no intention of stopping. He began to break but it was already too close. Him and his mother were hit. Directly into the driver’s side, crushing in his door making it impossible to be opened forcing him to crawl out the passenger side. By some miracle both him and his mother were not harmed, but they just as easily could have been. I was told they were okay but the car was totaled and they were a bit shaken up. I composed myself and called him to check and make sure the news was true and that they really were alright. If only the drivers education could have accounted for people who would not have taken the courses. When I came to get my license I wanted to be well educated so I would not become the person to hit another person’s loved ones.

When it was my turn to get my license I made sure I knew how to be safe. I sat there in the DMV with my mother, anxiously waiting for my name to be called. I had studied for months taking online driving quizzes and studying the textbook cover to cover. I sat there trying to cram one more online test in before my name was called. Eventually my mom grabbed my arm, gave it a little squeeze and told me good luck before I was guided over to a table to give the woman behind the counter all my information. After I was done, she told me where to sit and how to begin the test. I was caught off guard by the appearance of the old computer and the strange looking dividers separating me from the next computer. I felt like I was moving so slowly as I read through each question and selected my answer. Before I felt confident but now, sitting there in the light of the computer screen I felt the nerves getting to me. I remember a man, who seemed quite a bit older than me, sat down one computer away from me. He was visibly nervous and I could tell he had been through this a few times. As I completed my test I could hear him getting frustrated with the questions, hitting his fists on his leg and mumbling under his breath. He got up and walked out angrily before I finished my test and found out I had passed. I had to guess he had not. I felt confident that my studying and research before had helped me pass and I wondered if he had not. As I began to drive alone, I was constantly worrying and watching out for drivers who were not paying attention. I was a very defensive driver. When my dad had taught me to drive he reminded me it is better to be safe than sorry, especially when driving. Too many people die daily in car crashes because people are one: not paying attention, two: simply do not understand the rules of the road or three: think they know how to drive well enough that they don’t have to follow all the rules. All three of these are deadly. It is important to be an observant driver, it can help avoid dangerous situations. It is important to be a knowledgeable driver, it can potentially save both the life of the driver and the lives of others. And it is important to NOT be an overconfident driver, that can be the most deadly of them all.

I reminisce about the day I got my license. When I think about it I often recall that man. Did he ever get his license? Did he ever have it to begin with? Did he think he would just know what was on the test because he was older? I felt bad for him. I hoped that he eventually took some driver education classes, so that he could pass and so I could feel safe on the roads. Now whenever I drive I am extra careful around certain things: any roads that intersect with another, especially ones that stop only one direction, and any drivers who seem too confident for their own safety.