Maybe If

Maybe If by Vy
Nguyen

Maybe if that one
time you decided to deal with being grounded instead of going home
drunk, I wouldn’t be mourning for you. Maybe if you didn’t lie
about being drunk, someone’s child would be able to go home to see
their family. Maybe if we just all pay attention to the road,
wouldn’t we be able to live our lives to the fullest?

Driving was always something I yearned for when I got into high
school. I studied hard to pass the permit test and when the time came
I was able to take my permit test, which I fortunately passed. I
started to practice driving with my dad and honestly, it was really
fun. However, a few months into driving practice, someone wasn’t
paying attention and bumped harshly towards me when turning left.
What was even worse was that my mom was in the car with me. The car
was only slightly scratched. I was fine physically and so was my mom
but that minor crash really messed me up. I lied, I wasn’t fine
mentally however. I was too scared to go behind the wheel for a few
weeks. I kept recalling the memory and kept questioning what would
happen if that driver actually caused my car to roll over and what of
my mom. Those thoughts haunted me for a while; I kept questioning to
myself if I was in the wrong. Was I undereducated about driving or
was it the driver’s reckless driving?

Drivers ed
is important to reducing the numbers of deaths due to driving because
it allows people to be more cautious when driving and make people
more aware of the consequences of being involved in an accident. Some
steps need to be taken to require teens to take a safety course when
they take their permit test because the examination does cover some
basic safety rules, but the smallest details that may have been able
to save someone’s life are not covered. Parents should also be
educated as most teens are influenced by their parents. So if a role
model of yours speeds or texts while driving, the teen will do it
because their role model is. The U.S death by driving rates has been
increasing rapidly to the point that it surpassed the numbers of
American soldiers that died during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan
combined according NHTSA. People’s mindset should be changed to
where being late is okay if it means that you get to stay safe.
Someone shouldn’t have to risk their life on the road to get to
their job because what is the point of going when you can’t even
make it. Getting behind the wheel is a responsibility and reckless
driving could cause preventable injuries and possible fatalities to
not only yourself but the people involved.

“Maybe if” is
the real question of whether someone was able to keep their life or
not.