Preparing for the Unexpected

Preparing for the Unexpected

Cade Ayris

I have never been in a car accident, but my brother has. He had just bought a new car and was driving down a stretch of road that he was unfamiliar with. It was very dark and there were not any streetlights. He was excited about his car and didn’t even think about being cautious and slowing down. What he didn’t realize was that there was a sharp turn at the end of the street. As a result, he was going too fast and unable to slow down in time, sliding into a guard rail and totaling his car. Luckily, he was only going 45 mph, so he was physically unharmed in the wreck, but he did have PTSD for several months following. Anytime he was riding as a passenger, when the car would come to a stoplight or stop sign, he would jump, even if it wasn’t abrupt. Thankfully, he had insurance, so he was able to get a new car, but it took months before all the paperwork and insurance process was finished. In the meantime, he had to get rides from our different family members to go to work. The thing is, the accident didn’t just affect him, but also affected his relationship with my parents. They were unsure if they could trust him to drive responsibly and had anxiety about him getting back behind the wheel of a car. His experience highlights that driving recklessly, even if you are fortunate enough to walk away uninjured, can still have a negative impact on you in other ways.

Driver education is very important to reduce the number of fatalities. We were lucky enough to have my brother bounce back and not have lasting injuries.  However, there are many drivers, or others they encounter, who are not so fortunate. All of us had to go through driver education classes and spend hours with our parents driving before getting our license. However, I believe there needs to be a way to reinforce, even more, how important it is to remain safe. Sometimes, you must have a personal experience for it to really hit home. Putting someone in danger is not what I had in mind, but if there was a way for all new drivers to go through simulations that mimic a car accident, I think that would be helpful to reinforce how important it is to be vigilant while driving. 

Another step that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving would be to emphasize the dangers of driving in driver education courses. I personally don’t think there was enough focus put on that topic when I attended. Additionally, requiring questions about the dangers of the road to be a part of the driving test for one’s license, would help to reinforce. Yet another step that could be taken to reduce the number of deaths related to driving could be to have outreach campaigns in social media where young drivers spend their time, like in snapchat, ticktok and Instagram.  

 Some steps that I could take to be a better, safer driver on the road is to always drive 5 under the speed limit when on unmarked roads or unfamiliar with the area. Another, seemingly simple but may be put off task, is to always immediately get my tires filled with air when they are low to prevent a flat tire. The first will allow for me to have more time to respond if an unforeseen situation were to occur such as an animal, a child, another driver or even an unexpected turn. The second will prevent me from putting myself in any situation in which I may cause a disturbance to other drivers on the road and decrease the likelihood of a crash being caused by it. Finally, I could help others consider how important it is to be alert and aware of their surroundings by continuing to share my brother’s story and being a good example to my friends when they are riding with me in my car.