Not Merely To Live, but To Live and Be Alive

There is a dream I have in which driving is done with peace. It is of world where driving is done without fear of injury, without fear of death. Perhaps it is a world in the future, maybe near, maybe far, but it is a world we as a society must fight for. It may be a prolonged battle, but we fight not merely for ourselves, but for the generations that will follow. The peace that is won will embrace a world in which people are safe, where driving does not result in pain, where driving does not result in loss, where driving does not tear beautiful lives apart. To some it may be perceived as a mere fantasy, an impossible goal, but for I it is known as something true, something possible, a battle in which we can be victorious. For all it may not be a dream, but for all winning this battle is a necessity. For in this battle, without success, will come tremendous loss.

In America alone, an average of 34,000 people die per year from unsafe driving. Their lives are lost, their futures evaporate in the blink of an eye. Children are made orphans. Parents lose the only children they will ever have. Friends gone and without a proper goodbye. Lovers are reduced to living only in memory, leaving behind a grief that can never be tamed. The young die with childlike hope in their hearts, still believing in a world in which they are safe, in which they are loved. Yet cruelty and selfishness steals from them the future and the life they had believed in. The elderly lost, never to meet their grandchildren and are reduced to ashes prior to their time, which they had just begun to value as limited and precious. All these lives taken; all these lives lost. They are all my lives. They are all yours. In this world of vast connections, we are all a part of one world, one life. Your life lost is the loss of my friend’s brother, my teacher’s niece. My life lost is the loss of your neighbor’s best friend, your cousin’s future lover. These deaths are not abstract. These numbers are more than statistics. These deaths are your life, your future, and the lives and futures of all around you.

The steps to reducing deaths resulting from unsafe driving are found simply in understanding the truth. Only by ensuring that the truth of loss is not just known but resonated within the hearts of all whose hands are grasped on a wheel is how this battle shall be won. To win, and provide a safer world for our next generation, we must understand the truth of death and the truth of grief. It is not enough simply to watch a video telling a story of death, but to experience and understand the aftermath. People must witness a woman weeping as she begs for the life of her son, they must feel the crushing weight of a man whose father will never have a part in the life of his son, they must see a girl in a life so void since the day she lost her lover. These deep truths of life and death must touch the hearts of all who sit behind the wheel. Unsafe driving does not occur from the lack of head knowledge; it results from the lack of heart knowledge. All drivers know there are risks to driving, but the vast majority lack the heart depth that resonates with loss. Drivers lack the heart that understands the value of human life.

Drivers must be educated, in knowledge and in heart. They must understand not only themselves and their responsibility on the road, but that it is vital also to understand others. They must understand a husband who will run a red light to bring his wife in labor to the hospital. They must understand a woman whose career was just ended and cannot focus properly to merge onto the highway. They must understand all the young who have yet to understand the mortality of their lives and who drive without regard for themselves or for others. They must understand the alcoholic who desires yet is struggling to recover since the abandonment of her lover. Drivers must understand people. Drivers must understand lives. Drivers must understand themselves, for they too have experienced the same moments as in the lives of other drivers. Yet one’s life belongs to themselves, and other drivers’ lives are their own; there is none who can understand what is to happen in a moment of driving, they can merely be educated to comprehend the complexities and value of the lives around them, and they can learn treat such people with utmost care and respect.

Yet many fall short, and against all odds, many are still lacking, myself included. Though I value driving with respect for others, and I understand that another person’s life and another’s needs may be more important than my own, I still resulted in a situation in which my life could have been lost. I was driving to my cousins, a place I had been dozens of times before. Despite my familiarity, I took a roundabout too quickly, and my car spun off the road. Luckily, there were no other cars around, and the grassy hill aided my ability to regain control of the vehicle. The car stopped; I was safe and unharmed. I continued to the road and arrived safely at my destination. Afterwards, I pondered over the cause, yet no likely conclusion was to be found. I may have been faster than usual but not dangerously so, I touched the brakes ever so slightly, yet I still lost control. There was no understandable indicator for the moment that could have ended my life.

What I learned more than anything was that unlikely occurrences may disrupt one’s life on any occasion; I learned the importance of caution and of being highly aware. Whether death results from my choices or another, it may happen without any prior indication and without any warning. There may be no signs, no reason, and no understandable choice for why a life could be lost. This is why caution must be maintained on all occasions. This is not a lesson I could learn just once, as the heart tends to forget. It is something I must remind myself of continuously to ensure that my life is preserved, and the lives of others are not only valued but also protected. It is something I must fight to remember every day.

Most battles are fought at the expense of lives; this battle is fought for their preservation. It is a battle I must fight, but I cannot win it alone. All must be aware of the war our world faces in protecting the lives that are impacted by drivers. We must all be aware, and we must all fight. This is a war that can be won. The resulting peace will produce a world in which people can be safe, a world in which lives are valued, a world in which lives are preserved. In this dream of mine, in this future of our world, people live and drive with a deep heart understanding for one another, and all are loved and respected as such. Loved ones will be found, not lost; children and parents will be reunited, not torn apart; connections will be made between all, not broken. In this world you and I will be living, not dead and not just simply alive. You and I will be living a life of connection and a life of love. Understand the importance of all its implications. You and I will be living.