Name: Triet Vo
From: Katy, TX
Votes: 0
A
wise man once said life happens in an instant. Two cars met each
other on an intersection at high speed, oblivious to each other’s
presence. The rest is blurry. The rest happened in a hospital near
downtown Texas, as I holding my friend’s hand. A life fills with
potential wasted for a moment of distraction. The quest for a
fast-paced life leaves my friend permanently slow.
I don’t believe
it’s inevitable. I don’t believe it’s in our nature to
experience life in the right part of the speedometer. I don’t
believe it should be. I attended a drivers ed class taught by a
former veteran who was scarred by fiery battlegrounds and deaths. He
gave us an in-class quiz, every day, that always contain the same
question: What’s the optimal speed? After our multiple
trial-and-errors, request to elaborate on which specific part of the
road he was referring to, the condition of the road,… everyone gets
the question wrong, every time. On the last day of DriverEd, he
divulges the answer: slow.
We were confused,
and to this day so. We argue to the contrary, citing statistics that
states accidents happen at all speed. That driving at slow speed
annoys experienced driver who often goes 15 mph over the limit. One
day, a Physics teacher, tired of my class’s constant mistakes on
the test, calmly reminds us of the kinetic energy equation. E = ½
mv^2.
If I’m gonna
crash, my optimal speed is slow.
Slow. Slow. I took
a step to reduce my and other’s chance of dying on the road by
taking less step. One at a time. The answer is simple, yet everyone
came up with convenient excuses to avoid it. As you read this
passage, you probably already form the objection to my stance. You
will say that driving carefully, looking at ground level, mirror, and
surrounding, as well as stay focused is the key. My rebuttal is
simple: What’s the optimal speed to drive carefully, looking at the
ground level, mirror, and surrounding, as well as staying focus?
Sometimes a rampant problem in society doesn’t have that much
nuance, and the answer have been in our face the whole time.
Drive slow.
