Behind Every Car Accident

Driving is an art. It requires someone to stay focused, be attentive, calm, and experienced so as to be the master or at the very least, to be a good driver. Being able to control the accelerator, clutch, brake pedals, steering wheel, to constantly check your mirrors and at the same time to have a conversation with someone who is next to you is honestly a work of art. As art can elevate your mood and make you feel happy, it can also create a painful, heart-wrenching and terrifying experience. Same goes with driving. One time you feel adrenaline rushing all over your body and within fraction of seconds you find it to be the reason to turn your world upside down and destroy you for once and for all.

What most of us feel sorry about is for the person who got into the accident; however, I always feel like there is more to the story than a death of that person. There is a mother who is praying for her son to come home safe and sound, there is a brother who is waiting for his sister to tell her how his day went, there is a wife who is waiting for her husband to apologize for the fight they had early in the morning, there is a daughter who is hiding behind the door to scare her father, there is a friend who thinks is going to watch a football match with his friend tonight, there is even a colleague who is planning on what to discuss with his/her workmate the next day. But then all of a sudden, puff! Everything evaporates like it was a dream.

We all live like we have guaranteed the next breath we are about to take and so we become the reason for the life lost, for the leg amputated, for the body paralyzed and for the trauma experienced because we have long forgotten the value of life.

In Ethiopia, major mode of transportations are share taxis “Blue and white minibuses”. And one day as I was heading home taking one of these taxis, I saw the taxi that was in front of ours crushing with a truck. When the driver of the taxi noticed that he was going to crush, he turned the car towards himself and two people who were sitting on the front passenger’s seat died in instant. Everyone gathered in shock and I got the chance to have a glimpse of their faces and in that instant moment a wave of shock hit me and I froze. Those two people were right in front of me while we were waiting (making a line) for the taxis to come. I could have taken their places had I come a bit earlier. I could have been in that taxi sitting in the front passenger’s seat. It could have been me instead of them. And in that exact moment, my life flashed before my eyes. Afterwards I went home and prayed to God. Moments like this smack you in the face and remind you that you have no power over what could go wrong and what could not. All you could do is to always make sure you don’t lose control because of your recklessness.

I did have a close family who got into car accident few years back. One moment he was having fun with his friends and the next moment he is being told that he is going to be paralyzed. He went to every doctor even in America to know if there was a chance of him walking again. But, unfortunately there wasn’t much they could do so he returned back to his country to stay with his wife and kids. Few months later, we received a call from his wife and she told us that he committed suicide. He was a nurse but even being so didn’t keep him strong. And so, we lost him too. No words could explain the grief we have experienced as a family especially his wife and children.

Studies have shown drivers, who are prone to car accidents are those who are speed driving, distracted while driving, disobeying traffic signals, are aggressive when driving or they are stressed over daily hassles. And we can change the negative outcomes of these by improving or leading healthy life style, choosing to be calm and most of all by taking driver’s education seriously. If we know the rules of how to drive and if we are both mentally and physically approved to drive a car by professionals, the more we hinder the occurrence of car accidents.

In a nutshell, Safe Driving is not only about saving a person’s life; it is also about keeping our community and society out of harm’s way. Let us all be responsible while we are driving so as to have a peace of mind and a safe world!