Hold Truck Driver’s and their Employers Accountable

Safe driving is undoubtedly one of the most prevalent things in my life that I strive to accomplish whenever I am behind the wheel. I’ve had many experiences with car accidents in my life, but there are two that have traumatized me to the point where I waited a whole year after I turned 16 to actually get my driver’s license. I have also decided to go to a college relatively close to my home town so I would not be on the road for more than two hours.

The first major accident I was involved in, I was in the passenger seat as my mom was driving me and my two siblings (who were in the back). At one point we were at an intersection, where we where the road that intersected the one we were on was an exit of a major highway. We were stopped at the red stoplight, and naturally, my mom started to go forward when the light turned green. I remember being half way through the intersection and looking out my window to see a car coming straight for us. The car that ran the red light t-boned our car on the passenger side, and caused us to hit the car that was behind us and our car flipped over onto its side. This happened almost 6 years ago, and I still remember the accident vividly. I will never forget the sounds of my siblings creaming in the back, or my mom crying afterwards, blaming herself for the accident. It was a miracle none of us were severely hurt, at least physically. My mom suffers from log term back pain, and this started happening after the accident. My youngest sibling has nightmares and has started to suffer from anxiety that we suspect has been heightened from the accident. My brother, who just turned 16 a few months ago, refuses to practice driving. And I of course have my own multitude of mental issues, but I cannot just chalk it all up to this single accident…The second most poignant accident happened just over a year ago. I was not a part of it, but it changed the course of my life and my family’s lives forever.

Five close family members of mine (my dad’s aunt, her husband, my dad’s uncle, his wife, and my dad’s other aunt) were traveling to a vacation spot as they do every summer together, when they had to stop at standstill traffic on the highway. Unfortunately, a FedEx truck was traveling fast behind them, and did not break in lou of traffic. This caused my family’s car to be crushed between the truck and the car ahead of them. That day, three of my family member’s died. I don’t know if they died instantly, or were forced to suffer- I never asked my two surviving family members because I did not want to cause them any more emotional stress. It took 2 hours for first responders to get all five of them out of the crushed car. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to have to be sitting in a crushed car with a shattered leg and my sister or wife dead or dying next to me like my aunt and uncle both had to suffer through. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of my family that passed. What is terrible to think about is the fact that their deaths were so preventable. If the FedEx driver was more attentive, or had gone through more training, they would still be alive. They would have been able to see me graduate high school and go to college, and in the future get married and buy a home and start my life.

I firmly believe that drivers of all kinds need to take proper precautions when driving. There’s the obvious “don’t text and drive” and always be alert, but I think truck drivers especially under major companies need to be held under a higher standard. Being a truck driver is so dangerous, so they need to be compensated well in their paychecks, but companies need to spend more time educating these drivers. I cannot tell you the amount of times I’m driving to and from college, and a semi cuts me off, nearly hitting me, just because the semi in front of them was going only two miles an hour above the speed limit. Also, because accidents happen all of the time with trucks for large companies, money is set to the side every year to pay off families who were affected by accidents. FedEx tried to get my surviving aunt and uncle to keep quiet in court by paying them a good chunk of money. But money cannot bring back lost families. Companies like FedEx should take the money they set aside and use it towards driver training to prevent accidents rather than use it in the aftermath of an accident. I also think states need to place more restrictions on these trucks, by having a mandatory “no passing” law applying to semi’s. Of course, this would also mean that police and state troopers need to hold semi drivers who break these rules accountable by fining the company they work for.

My surviving uncle, who actually was an ambulance driver before retiring, has started to talk about advocating for trainings with truck drivers like I’ve described. Accidents are so preventable all around, but accidents where major companies are not held accountable, is downright disturbing. I know I am doing my part by obeying the speed limit, staying off of my phone, and staying completely alert. I want people in larger, even more dangerous vehicles, to do the same.