Second Chances

Every time you enter a car, you put your life on the line. We don’t really think of it that way; TV, books, friends, even parents make us excited to drive when the time comes by telling us that it’s synonymous with autonomy and independence. It’s easy to get swept up in the glamour of choosing where you go, and when, and for how long. But cars weigh one-and-a-half tons, and crashes are the leading cause of death for people under 50. A huge factor that I see in my friends and parents is that the trust we have in our cars helps them justify texting while driving.

We’ve all heard the horror stories and statistics about phone distractions leading to fatal accidents. The issue is that I, like a lot of other teens, thought that it would never happen to me. The day before my eighteenth birthday, though, I was driving home from the drugstore, and I had one more turn to make before I was home. My phone chimed, and I looked down at it without a second thought. Immediately, I rear-ended a car that had come to a sudden stop ahead of me. Thank God no one was hurt, but I was horrified. I was 1,000 feet away from my own home–I had made that exact drive hundreds of times. I couldn’t believe that just one moment of looking away from the road had resulted in such a catastrophe.

Drivers ed tells us about the worst-case scenarios, and for new licensees, that does fine scaring them into being cautious drivers. But eventually, everyone relaxes behind the wheel, and that false sense of security is what causes accidents. We need to be aware of small accidents, little mistakes that anyone can make that still lead to crashes. Checking your phone may seem innocuous, but when you’re driving, a lot can happen in just a second. I always put my phone on Do Not Disturb when I go anywhere, now, because I was lucky to walk away from that accident safe and without hurting anyone else. I got a second chance, and I’m not going to waste that.