What happened to my friends?

Devin
Schelske

March
28, 2020

2020
Drivers ed Essay Contest

What
Happened To My Friends?

His
name was Eric. He was the first person to talk to me on my very first
day of school. “Look how long my arm hair is!” he said. We’ve
been friends ever since. We bonded a lot through sports, we played on
the same football team through freshman year in high school. I
remember getting the news about the car accident he was in, the next
day at football practice felt so lonely. Eric was texting and driving
and drifted into another lane where he met another car head-on. Had
somebody told him there was an app to help you not text and drive or
maybe that they cared too much to see something bad happen to him,
he’d still be here today. Texting and driving has killed so many
including Eric. There are apps you can use to disable alerts of
incoming texts to discourage texting and driving. You can turn on the
“do not disturb” mode on your phone or even place it on silent.
Although you may have done it before and think you can get away with
it safely, just know you’re not invincible. If you care about
someone who texts and drives, tell them it’s not cool and that you
want to be able to see them again.

His
name was Dallin. He was another one of my football teammates. He
taught me how to block the biggest kids while playing offensive line
and I’ll never forget it. Dallin was driving late at night with no
seatbelt on and lost control of his car. He crashed and was ejected
from his car. In the same light, had someone told him that they cared
too much to see something bad happen to him and that not wearing a
seatbelt isn’t cool, he’d still be with us today. Seatbelts can
save lives. According to cdc.gov, wearing a seatbelt during a car
accident reduces your risk of death by 45% and risk of serious injury
by 50%. Think of you and your passengers safety. If you care about
these people, tell them to wear a seatbelt, it might save their life.

Had
my friends taken a second to remember that driving is dangerous and
they needed to take the correct steps in order to make it home
safely, they’d still be here today. In order to be a better driver,
I have vowed to keep my phone on “do not disturb mode” when I
drive. I want to make sure other drivers and I are safer. This way I
ensure that people make it back to their families and get to live a
longer happier life.