The importance of twice

Alex Mobley

Look twice

14 October 2020

The importance of Twice

I can never tell enough people about how important it is to be a responsible driver and look twice. I have been on the other end of a crash that could have been prevented by simply looking again. My hope is that hearing my family’s story would inspire others to always do the right thing and drive responsibly.

On Saturday, July 16th, 2011, while traveling to Weaver Baptist Church my family was hit by a youth minister towing a boat illegally. The minister ran a stop sign and came into our path where he hit our vehicle. His boat came unhitched and flew onto the top of my family’s car. My mom, my brother and I were the only people in our car. My mom was trapped and for over an hour I panicked rather my mom would make it. I had to be strong for my brother as they used the jaws of life to try to remove my mom. As I heard the whooshing of the blades of a care flight chopper my mom’s life was now in the hands of the doctors and we were left alone with the strangers who had changed our lives forever. This event has had the strongest impact on me. To this day I can recall every detail of the day, and the worst parts of the days after. Most traumatically was being separated from my mom for weeks and comforting my three-year-old brother when he would ask me if our mom was dead. While the othe vehicle passengers were mostly unscaved my mother suffered crushed arms, a punctured lung, and many broken ribs. When we did see her she didn’t look like herself because of all the bruises, swelling and cuts to her face. My mom who did everything for us was now needing full-time care and unable to do the simplest task for herself much less us. Although no lives were lost, it was a hard battle for my mom and to this day struggles to push through to do her job to support me and my family. As a result, I have become more mature than my peers since I had to become responsible and self-sufficient overnight. Since that day I have also become more protective of my brother and have tried to make sure he stays a kid as long as he can unlike me.

All of the struggles, tears, and pain could have been prevented If one person could have taken a second look and saw the sign, and Stopped looked twice before pulling out. So please stop and take a look for the next kids.

Because of this story, educating others is something I take very seriously. Knowing the price is a large one. It could like my family actually cost you and arm or leg like the old saying goes. Every driver should learn the basic step of looking twice. I try to do my part by sharing my story with every driver.