The Power of a Single Moment

Jenna Page

DMV Scholarship

6 June 2021

The Power of a Single Moment

“Goodbye!” I cried out as my brother drove out of my university parking lot. During a year of covid, we had not been able to have any visitors inside of our dorms and had little opportunity to make friends my freshman year. My younger brother was able to come visit on his high school spring break week, and it filled my heart with the utmost joy. Throughout a year of loneliness and hardship, I was going to have the greatest weekend with one of my closest friends, my brother.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was sad to see him go but excited for him to get home to graduate high school in a few months. I walked back inside and began to carry about my day as usual.

I was sitting down with my friend trying to decide what movie to watch that Sunday afternoon. Should we turn on a classic childhood favorite such as Finding Nemo, or should we venture out and try something new? These were the questions that were pressing on our minds as we laughed about what to choose. Then the phone rang. I casually picked up the phone to hear my mom’s voice, beginning with “Everyone is okay…” My heart dropped. Never have I felt such a quick change of emotions within myself. My brother who had left me just hours ago was now in the middle of a small town in West Virginia where he had rear ended the vehicle in front of him and in doing so, totaled both cars in the collision. I was devastated. My little brother, someone I always want to encourage and protect and want to see succeed was facing a terrifying situation, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop the pain.

Although everyone was able to walk away healthy, thank goodness, the trauma of that day left deep scars in my brother’s life and my family’s as well. People like to look back and describe all the ways the situation could have gone differently, but no one ever seems to address the root cause.

The truth behind this event was a lack of concern. Teenage drivers have a strong tendency to neglect the required drivers education hours and rather ignore their teacher’s keen wisdom. They choose to breeze through the classes and discuss them as if they are meaningless wastes of time, however, they are in fact some of the only things standing between life and death.

Until teenagers begin to take driving and drivers education more seriously, nothing can advance in the world of safety. Children today are raised to be told they can conquer anything and do anything, a beautiful and valuable mentality. Although, this mentality is part of what has caused several harmful car crashes among teenagers. Because teenagers believe they are capable of anything, these drivers are not attentive to driver education and begin their driving years as distracted, willingly uninformed drivers.

Years ago, people did not face the problem of car crashes. There were other accidents of course but guiding a two-ton vehicle through a busy street with various other vehicles of shapes and sizes was not one of them. When did society become so callous to the seriousness of driving a car? A car is one of the most powerful vehicles, taking the life of approximately 3700 drivers each day (Road Safety Facts). In my experience, people are more concerned about the teenager who holds a knife to cut an apple and how they may possibly harm their fingers than they are about the potential death in a car accident.

So why is this? Why do people disregard the immensity of driving? I believe that this mentality stems from a fear of accepting the truth. People do not want to validate the potential hazards that may arise, and so they choose to ignore the dangers, wanting to see the ease alone. For society to see a decline in motor vehicle accidents, individuals need to heed the instruction taught in driver education and learn to value this wisdom rather than discarding it.

As I hung up the phone with my mom that day, my heartbeat resounding loudly throughout my entire body, my head spinning from fear, I collapsed to the couch, burying my head in my hands. Suddenly the choice of what to watch seemed so insignificant because it was. All I could do was pray that my brother was ok and that my family could recover from this traumatic event. I realized that although I would love to change the past, no one can do this. All we can do is move forward, being diligent to not let past traumas arise again.

I urge you, everyone reading this whether an experienced driver or an inexperienced driver, consider the weight of your actions. Put down the phone. Turn down the music. Drive safely, smartly, and remember the consequences that many have lived through from neglecting driver education.