Right Next to You

The only thing I wanted for my sixteen birthday was to get a license. I thought, “How scary can driving be?” so i enrolled into a driving school. I had a lot of fun, I made new friends and learned the basics of driving. If there’s one thing that stayed with me were the videos that they made us to watch. Videos of devastated parents telling the story of how their kids died in a car accident. I can still recall the pain inside the families’ voices. Even though most of my classmates were distracted on their phones, I, on the other hand, pondered over the infinite ways that such acts can destroy someone’s life. I’m quite sure I wasn’t the only person in the room that felt moved by those videos. Fortunately, that video altered my perception of driving. Although not all the students were watching it, I trust that by one person breaking the chain difference is made. Afterall, change starts from within.

When I drive, I always make sure I’m following the laws and driving correctly. Sadly, not everyone has that mentality. The amount of times cars have moved to my lane as if they are auditioning for Fast and Furious is unconceivable. Sadly, these types of drivers exist worldwide. As a result, they’ve taken the lives of many innocent people that deserved a better fate. On a personal level, I’ve lost a friend to a car accident. He was 18 and he had just begun a new chapter of his life, he had just entered his dream college. While on his way to work, he was hit by a car that was driving way past the speed limit. Another ill-fated experience I had to witness happened one day after school. As we were driving back, there were signs of a commotion at the end of the street by my school. As I got closer, I saw a car completely in flames, firefighters and police officers trying to cease the fire, while trying to control the terrified crowd. When I came home I instantly turned on the TV and made out what had happened. A man, who drove under the influence, had caused an accident. On top of that, he had fled the scene and abandoned a mother and father burning, while carelessly leaving an 8-year-old watching the horrid scenes. No child and parent have to lose loved ones at the hands of reckless drivers.

Therefore, my best advice is that once one turns on a car, we need to be prepared for any possible situation. It’s true, we can control our actions but we cannot control our neighbor’s actions. Driving is not something that should be done to seem modish as it comes with immeasurable responsibility. It’s a modern day problem that kills teens, adults, elders all around the globe. So, be careful and stay focused because maybe it can be your lucky day but not everyone receives the same fate.