Don’t turn your family into mine

There is an often overlooked issue that is thankfully coming to light in recent years, car deaths. I can speak from relative experience as my own Grandmother (on my Dad’s side) died in a motorcycle accident, and my Grandmother’s (on my Mom’s side) Uncle was drinking and driving and ended up killing someone and gave himself brain damage. As someone may be able to tell, my family has been heavily impacted by driving deaths.

I personally feel if people were simply more educated on the gravity of distracted or drunk driving we would have far fewer deaths. If people were simply educated enough to know what could happen, nobody would do it. If people were taking sobriety tests, countless people would still be alive. Perhaps if people would practice safe driving practices such as checking your mirrors every three seconds as recommended. Maybe if people would get safer cars they might not get into as many deadly wrecks.

Don’t turn your family into mine. Don’t make it so your grandchild can never meet you. Don’t put yourself in a vegetative state for the thrill of alcohol or the joy of drugs. Don’t take your eyes off the road no matter what. Don’t do what distracted and drunk driving did to mine. If people simply saw those previous words and took them to heart there wouldn’t be a crisis on our hands. If people were simply competent on the road, my grandmother may still be alive. If my Grandmother’s Uncle didn’t drink and drive I might’ve been able to meet him and someone else might still be alive.

I have never been in a car accident as I pay attention to the road; however, I know others who did. My brother’s friend got in an accident while driving to school, really shook him up. A family friend got hit while another driver ran a red light and got himself killed, despite the other driver being at fault he is still scared to get behind the wheel. If people simply paid attention to what they were doing on the road this would never be a problem. I mean, I have seen two separate car accidents while working the drive thru at McDonald’s. Luckily, it doesn’t seem like either of them had any injuries other than a couple bruises, cuts, and scrapes. I have almost been hit by people running a stop sign and running a red light and tailgating me. I might just be a bad luck charm for drivers, but I always make sure nobody gets hurt; however, I will not always be successful in those attempts. I may lose my life due to someone else’s recklessness one day and it scares me. It really does.

As I have hopefully shown, driving deaths have followed people I know consistently. If people simply paid attention and were competent on the road this would happen much less. The deaths. The pain. The sadness. The mourning. The existential fear. The absolute fact that you know if you were paying attention someone else would still be alive. Don’t turn your family into mine and force your’s to live with the constant fear of the road.

Did you know that in 2020 more than double the amount of people have died in car accidents than in shootings? Nearly double the amount of deaths from COVID? Nearly the same amount of suicides? There are more car deaths in America than the populations of the countries; The Vatican, Tuvalu, Nauru, and Paulu combined. Not to mention, approximately 77% of drivers have been in at least one car accident. Approximately .7% are deadly, and there are about 5.25 million accidents per year. Just think, if you are getting into an accident you run a 7/1000 chance of killing someone. Even though those odds do not seem very high, I wouldn’t want to take that chance in the first place.

Don’t turn your family into mine and so many other families and force them to live with this unstoppable sadness and this feeling of loneliness just because you don’t care enough. Believe me, after one bad turn, one slow stop, one fast speed, you will care. But that will ultimately be too late for you to care. Someone not caring in a game ruins the fun for everyone else. Someone not caring in a relationship ruins the relationship. But for some inconceivable reason, not caring while driving is seen as more ok? It is completely insane and unacceptable! It is too late to save the victims, but it isn’t too late to not have those deaths be in vain and to not have any more victims.

Bibliography:

• Bolotnikova, Marina. “America’s Car Crash Epidemic.” Vox, Vox, 19 Sept. 2021, https://www.vox.com/22675358/us-car-deaths-year-traffic-covid-pandemic.

• “Coronavirus Disease.” Coronavirus – Google Search, New York Times, 2020, https://g.co/kgs/pUou83.

• Thebault, Reis, and Danielle Rindler. “Shootings Never Stopped during the Pandemic: 2020 Was The Deadliest Gun Violence Year in Decades.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 Mar. 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/23/2020-shootings/.

• Sullivan, Becky. “Suicide Rates Fall Again – but Not for Young Adults and Some People of Color.” NPR, NPR, 3 Nov. 2021, https://www.npr.org/2021/11/03/1052075961/suicide-rates-fall-in-2020-for-second-straight-year.

• Blair, Jonny. “The 9 Smallest Countries in the World by Population.” Culture Trip, The Culture Trip, 3 Dec. 2017, https://theculturetrip.com/asia/articles/the-9-smallest-countries-in-the-world-by-population/.

• 6, News On. “What Are Your Chances of Getting into a Car Accident?” Home, News 9, 14 May 2020, https://www.news9.com/story/5e6fca6cf86011d4820c3f2d/what-are-your-chances-of-getting-into-a-car-accident.

• Levine, Glen B, and Marc Anidjar. “What Percentage of Car Accidents Are Fatal?: The Law Offices of Anidjar & Levine.” The Law Firm of Anidjar & Levine, P.A., 27 Oct. 2021, https://www.anidjarlevine.com/faqs/what-percentage-of-car-accidents-are-fatal/.

• “How Many Car Accidents Occur in the U.S. Each Year?: 1-800-THE-LAW2.” 1, 15 July 2021, https://www.1800thelaw2.com/resources/vehicle-accident/how-many-accidents-us/.