Learning from Experience

Have you ever had an experience when a moment felt like an eternity? And in that moment, you questioned yourself, could I have made a better decision?

A friend and I were driving home one night after a family autumn party. Nothing crazy, just family and fun. We were some of the last to leave. It was dark outside but we had driven down this same road so many times, we didn’t think anything of it. My friend was driving and she wanted to call her boyfriend to let him we would arrive home soon… or so we thought. Within the first two sentences of her call, she took her eyes off the road for a few seconds, but those few seconds were just enough for a white-tailed deer to jump straight out in front of us. We had no idea where it had come from but it hit us so hard that it ricocheted off of our car into another car passing on our opposite side. So many thoughts went through my head. Are we out of traffic’s way? Should I call 911? Is the other driver hurt? Will someone else who’s not paying attention hit the same deer? Why wasn’t I paying attention?

Some might say that a deer jumping out in front of us was very unlikely to happen, and my friend consequently looked at her phone at just the right time to miss it, causing the crash. But I think if we had been more responsible and truly valued our lives and the lives of others, we both would’ve put our distractions away and by doing so, we could’ve seen the deer before it was too late.

Texting and driving is one of many causes of car crashes in the United States each year. We know this because we’ve seen the statistics but even after all the videos, posts, and speeches, not many seem to care or change their old habits of speeding, texting, or eating while driving until the crash happens. So what can we do to start seeing a change in the statistics?

A high school in Fort Worth, Texas teamed up with its local police officers, firemen, and even emergency services to create a program where multiple students recreated an accurate depiction of a car crash. It was all done with professional equipment and a medical team on standby but they wanted this illustration to stick in the minds of these students and their families so much so, that they asked the parents to write an obituary for the participating students to help them understand the deep and dark emotions of losing a life to a car crash.

We’ll see change if we offer real-life experiences to trigger and create a what-if scenario before it actually happens. Recreating a car crash might be a small way of making children, teens, and young adults understand what can happen in a very fast second. No one can truly understand the consequences until they have experienced it for themselves. Why let it happen and danger them in real life when we can prepare them beforehand?

I would say that I started out as a dangerous driver. Not because I was speeding or distracted but because I was so scared of doing something wrong or breaking the law that I was potentially putting the other drivers and their passengers around me in danger. I believe that many new drivers have the same experience as me. The most important thing that I have learned is that I’ll never stop learning!

To become a better driver you must take initiative. I have had multiple scenarios where I second-guessed myself with my driving knowledge. Yes, I studied for my driver’s test. Yes, I read the pamphlet on safe driving but I wasn’t prepared for every situation and that’s normal! So what did I do? When I arrived at my destination, I quickly looked up the correct response or action to whatever I was second-guessing. The key is don’t put yourself or others in danger. Use common sense and inform yourself when you have a question and once you find the answer, SHARE IT! Be an educator because knowledge all to ourselves is useless. If we want to see a change, if we want to reduce the number of death due to car crashes, we must take action.

I believe that if we want to all become better drivers we must all first take initiative. We must always be learning and pushing our knowledge and by doing so, becoming more responsible drivers. Secondly, I believe that experience is the best way to learn. Giving kids, teens, and even young adults a real-life look at what happens in a car accident and even the aftermath of the medical team, policemen, and your parents can all affect the way we look at driving. Maybe if my friend and I were given this opportunity, we would’ve paid more attention to the road and less to our phones.