Get Home, Your Loved One is Waiting

Get Home, Your Loved One is Waiting

Jackie Chadick, Lacy Tier, Kelsey Mcghee, Decker Hains, and too many more. These are people who have suffered at the hands of the deadly wheel. Mrs. Chadick was driving to her daughter’s dance rehearsal to pick her up when a drunk driver hit her head on, Mrs. Chadick was a teacher who will never be able to stand in front of a classroom the same again. Lacy Tier was a miracle. She flipped her car three times when an irresponsible driver hit her rear, she is able to tell the story. Kelsey Mcghee passed away too early after getting into an accident with a large truck, she was nineteen and graduating from Clemson University. Decker Hains was driving during a snowstorm and flipped his card, he was so lucky to walk away.

In the blink of an eye, one text message, one moment of looking away from the road, just one moment could change your life. Kelsey will never hear her mother say I love you, Mrs. Chadick will never walk the same. Their lives were changed. Lacy walked away unscathed praising God, Mr. Hains walked away a tad more careful in the snow. Their lives were changed. In one blink of an eye, everything can change.

So, Buckle up. It’s a simple action, you take the seat belt and buckle yourself in. We are told it could save us potentially in a collision. We are told if we properly buckle up, we may live to see our parents and siblings even after a horrific accident. So, why do 9.3% of Americans not report wearing a seatbelt to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration? Convenience. It takes two seconds to buckle up, yet many don’t because it is just one more step to driving, an inconvenience to some. But, when something as precious as life is being held by the seat belt, shouldn’t that warrant two seconds? Let the seat belt warrant two seconds before driving, let your life warrant two seconds before driving. Your life means something, let the seat belt do its job. Had the drunk driver buckled her child up in the crash with Mrs. Chadick, her child may have lived.

So, pay attention. The text you just got is not worth running into the back of another’s car. That life change you’re thinking about may only be as great or disappointing as long as you can live through it. That cheeseburger you’re eating is only as delicious as being able to eat it on the other end of the drive. Pay attention, your life’s on the line. Had Kelsey seen the truck in front of her, she may still be smiling in the sunflower fields.

Driving is deadly. It takes one second to change your life on the road, one second of a slip up. Understand the gravity of the power you have behind the wheel, the power to end a life, so buckle up and pay attention. Get home, your loved one is waiting.