Protect Your Bubble

Devin Honesty

Protect Your Bubble

When I got my first car from my grandmother, she gave me the keys under one condition: I never use my phone while I drive. Simple enough, as I would never want to do something so careless that could cause such great harm and even ruin lives. While I take this responsibility to heart, something that scares me to my core is that I can only speak for myself in that matter, and not for all the other drivers on the road. My mother always taught me to protect my ‘bubble’ on the road, and of course, I will do everything I can too, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is doing their part to protect their ‘bubble’ and mine. I can trust myself on the road, but sadly I have been in too many accidents, always as a passenger.

I have been the front seat passenger with a driver who was too distracted to protect our bubble. I blacked out, and when I came to, the first thing I saw was the shattered windshield. My door was open, and a stranger was standing there looking at me, freaking out on the phone before helping me out of the car. I now have permanent nerve damage in my left side, and still can’t feel a lot of my left leg.

I was the front passenger with a driver when an 18-wheeler invaded our bubble trying to get into the lane we were in. I was asleep, and woke up to the driver screaming, and our car spinning across the freeway. I walked away with damage to my neck and back, after the accident, doing simple things brought me pain, I was dizzy and had a migraine almost constantly. After months of physical therapy, I started doing better. Everyday I’m learning how to manage the pain and effects from these injuries a little better.

I am lucky, and I’m beyond grateful that I didn’t come out of these and many other accidents in worse condition. I came out of these experiences a cautious driver, always aware of everything going on around me. I protect my bubble with all my power, and I’m protecting your bubble while I do it. You can’t just do damage to a bubble, you pop it, and once it pops it will never be the same. Bubbles are fragile, just like human lives in a car accident. I wish more people would take the easy and necessary precautions to protect themselves and others, staying off of your phone is only the bare minimum of being a safe driver. Protect your bubble, because you don’t want to see how catastrophic it could be when it pops.