Die Young

Abby Milonas

20 July 2021

Her name was Ruby and she was a bright fuchsia 1994 Honda Civic with a manual transmission, a hand-me-down from my older cousin that my parents got me for basically free aside from a few repairs. I was one of the extremely lucky few in my high school who had both my license and my own car, so I became the de facto driver in my friend group. I took driver’s ed very seriously- much to my parents’ annoyance once I began to correct their driving- but once I actually had the license in hand, my discipline began to slip. I was more concerned with keeping with the flow of traffic, as my stepfather instructed, rather than driving safely.

In the summer of 2013, I was driving my friend Steven to the mall. We had just had ice cream downtown and I decided to take a shortcut through some side roads. I was not familiar with the area, but the city was quite small and I was sure I could navigate it. We were recent high school graduates poised on the brink of adulthood, high on the independence of driving around town completely unsupervised, singing along to the feeble radio signal crackling through Ruby’s ancient speakers. We were approaching a stop at an intersection of a two-way road with no stop signs, meaning we would have to yield to them. I pulled a “California stop,” as my stepfather later called it, glanced both ways, and drove into the intersection.

The entire world shifted sideways. I came to slowly. My first thought was that I couldn’t see anything because my glasses had flown off. I found them in the layer of glass shards that had once been my windshield. My second thought was that the music was still playing. The song we had been dancing to was “Die Young” by Ke$ha. When I brought that up in the hospital later, my mother was not as amused by it as I was.

The cars parked along the side of the street had blocked my view of the pickup truck barrelling down the street, and it had hit me dead-on. Thankfully, Ruby was a sturdy gal and had done exactly what she was designed to do. Her frame had crumpled in such a way that the car took most of the force from the crash, and my friend and I escaped with nothing more than whiplash and a really nasty bruise. I later found out that the driver of the pickup had suffered greater injuries than we did; injuries which might have been avoided had he been wearing a seatbelt and not been speeding.

While drunk driving is a prominent issue in the national consciousness, there are other driving risks that are not discussed- or disciplined- as frequently. Safety is more than just checking your mirrors and watching the speed limit; you must be fully aware of your surroundings at all times. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that distractions put drivers at a risk six times greater than driving drunk. I had never had a single sip of alcohol in my life at the time of my accident, and became a risk because I was distracted by the radio and not paying close enough attention to my surroundings.

Education is a vital tool in reducing the number of driving-related deaths. With so many different kinds of signage on the road, and their meanings sometimes varying between states, it is easy for drivers who have not taken an education course in a long time to forget or misinterpret the meanings of road signs. Having drivers retake written exams when they renew their license is one way to increase the education level on the road and reduce the risk of accidents. Even a quick refresher every year or so can be extremely helpful.

Accidents are not always the fault of the driver, however; road maintenance is also vital in reducing risk. If traffic signs are broken or obscured by bushes; traffic lights are malfunctioning; or potholes, unmarked speed bumps, and tire debris from large trucks are creating obstacles, all of these lead to a greater chance of automobile collisions. It is certainly important to ensure that drivers understand, for instance, that an arc of flashing arrows indicates a sharp turn ahead, but if those arrows have been vandalized, then a driver may not realize it until it is too late. Cities must also plan for cyclists and pedestrians, who are often victims of vehicular homicide because of a lack in both driver awareness and accessible bike lanes and sidewalks.

The greatest step that any driver can take is to become aware of their surroundings at all times. It only takes one moment of distraction to end a life. Sharing the road and being courteous of other vehicles reduces road rage and lowers the risk of accidental or purposeful collisions. One must prioritize safety over speed; there is no appointment or event urgent enough to risk hurting or even killing yourself or someone else. When we enter the road, we put our trust in our fellow humans that we will respect one another and maintain utmost care while operating dangerous vehicles. Through education, awareness, and empathy, we can all become safer drivers and better people.