My Grandmother Donated Blood for Thirty Years

What is the importance of driver education in reducing the number of deaths as a result of driving?

What steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving?

Have you ever had an experience of being in a car accident or have seen your friends or family members driving irresponsibly?

What steps can you take to be a better and safer driver as well as help others become safer on the road?

When I was first studying to get my license, my parents made me read the entire manual, take dozens of practice tests, and drive twice the necessary hours before taking the exam. They had never demanded such intense scrutiny before, but it was for good reason. My grandmother, Renée, younger than my parents are now, was killed in a car crash. She held our family together, and according to my mom, would be the one to put her own life on hold to help out with whatever you needed. My grandfather tells me about how she donated blood every month for thirty years, and how she was an adventurous spirit with a passion for art. My dad tells me how she climbed the corporate ladder while lovingly and masterfully raising five kids. They show me pictures of Renée with her tongue out at the dinner table or posing by the airplane window. They gush about her selflessness and her role as the glue that held the family together.

One moment of another driver not paying attention irreparably tore apart my family.

When I think back on my parents’ insistence on my safety, I am grateful. Staying safe and keeping others safe is deeply personal for all of us– the loss of my grandmother motivates me to never let an incident like that happen again. And in that same vein, I have seen how making safe driving a personal matter is tangibly impactful, particularly for young people like my friends and peers. People who know what it’s like to suffer and worry, avoidably so, are more likely to prioritize safety. Even to know someone with those experiences goes a long way. Spreading personal stories and explaining the devastation these things cause is the best way to encourage better driving practices, reducing the insultingly high number of driving deaths. Awareness is spread by sharing stories between friends, through assemblies in schools and other public spaces, through advertisements, and so much more. At my high school, we held an assembly to hear stories from people involved in car crashes. We watched a play through of what a car crash scene looks like, full of chaos, devastation, and loss. I saw how people walked away from the scene in tears– discussing openly with their friends the impact seeing such a thing had on them. Seeing those stories and experiencing it first hand changed their outlooks. And that is only one part of making this issue personal for everyone. The simple driver’s education course is an essential component of this life-saving crusade– offering new drivers a glimpse into why it really matters that we take our safety, and the safety of others, so seriously. The unknowable benefit of the course and the immeasurable number of lives saved and families held together, means everything to people like me. It teaches us that we can’t toy with our lives– that our lives are invaluable and irreplaceable.

That’s why, out of love for my friends and out of love for my family, I am the first to demand responsible driving. I understand that it isn’t easy to go against the people we care about the most– to demand something perhaps so simple from them. But it is out of this love for these people that we must ask them to do better. My closest friends and my dearest family receive no exception. When someone isn’t respecting the rights of others to live and love and one day stick their tongue out for a photo at the dinner table, I demand better. When someone chooses to look at their phone instead of the road, I demand better. When someone chooses to ignore all the warnings, all the stories and wreckage that came before them, I demand better. We have to make it personal for one another. We have to be there to take care of one another. We can honor the people that came before us, like Renée, by sharing their stories and by not tolerating irresponsible driving in any form.

I never met my grandmother, but I know she happily donated blood every month for thirty years, asking what more she could be doing to save lives. I ask myself the same question when I’m behind the wheel. I ask others the same question when they drive irresponsibly. It’s a question that demands we see humanity and value in ourselves and in other people. It has an answer that everyone deserves. It has an answer that saves lives.