Stay Alert, Stay Safe

Being taught how to drive was one of the most fun, yet stressful times of my life. Something about being behind the wheel and being in control, but also hearing your dad preach about car safety was just a feeling I will never forget. As an anxious 15-year-old who was just ready to drive by herself, most of the stuff my dad said just went in one ear and out the other. I thought to myself, “I know the basics of driving, it can’t be that hard”. In my naïve head, all driving was to me was pressing the gas and knowing how to turn. I never considered how much attentiveness came into play. It wasn’t until I had my first accident when I realized just how much I should’ve listened to my dad.

I only had my license for a couple months and my parents stopped dropping me off to work at Pizza Hut. Of course, I was excited because I was the only co-worker with a license so imagine all the cool points I got for that. Even though my driving was great, my ability to stay alert and anticipate problems weren’t all that good, but at the time that didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to feel the independence of making that 10-minute drive to and from home. However, my parents still had rules for me when it came to my driving; one of them being that I couldn’t drive too late at night. I managed to convince them to make an exception to that rule just once; a mistake they will never make again.

On this particular day, I was getting off work much later than I normally did, probably around 11 and I was already exhausted. On a normal day I got off at 9 and would have enough energy to get myself home. The time came around for me to clock out, and my bed was calling my name. As soon as I got in the car, I knew I was too tired to get home, but I figured “It’s just 10 minutes, how hard can it be?” I soon realized how hard it was going to be. I couldn’t even get to the first red light without my eyes opening and closing for a few seconds. I managed to get to the light by my house and was pleasantly surprised that I got that far. The lady in front of me was far ahead so I had a safe distance. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, not realizing that my foot was slowly coming off the brake. I woke up to a loud crash and my head hitting the steering wheel. Luckily, I had my seatbelt on so the injuries weren’t severe, but I was instantly worried about the other driver.

As we pulled over, I was ready for them to come out and start swearing at me about how I hit them. It was the complete opposite. They came out their car and consoled me, as I was crying. I had never been in an accident before, and I surely wasn’t expecting my first one to be like this. A wave of emotions was surging through me and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think it could get worse than that, but it did. They had a baby in the backseat, which made me break down even more. All these questions came flooding to my head like, “What if something happened to her?”, or “What do I tell my parents?”. I mustered up the courage to call my parents, who didn’t seem to be upset, just worried about my safety. In the end, I got a ticket and a court date, but most importantly I got a new perspective on driving.

This accident happened in July and it is now November. I am a commuter traveling and hour to school and an hour and a half back because of traffic. Since my accident, any time I feel myself getting drowsy, nodding off, or anything to that affect, either I call my parents or I pull over. The fear that came over me after that accident is a feeling I never want to experience again and I will do everything in my power to make sure I don’t. I’m getting better at not driving when I’m tired, but it is sometimes still a challenge. Now I know that nothing is more important than road safety and I should have pulled over. Making sure that you are staying alert even when you feel as if you don’t need to be is an important lesson that all new drivers should learn. Expect the unexpected; especially when driving and that’s something that I will plan for next time.