Name: Christopher Michael Perkins
From: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Votes: 0
It was a normal
evening when I was in 10th grade, when I found out. Being a 15 year
old, I had hardly driven on anything more then back roads and parking
lots, up to that point. As I sat there watching TV, the last thing on
my mind was the importance of safety when it came to driving;
however, that night it changed very quickly as my mom walked in with
tears upon her eyes, as she prepared to tell me what had happened and
what was also one of her biggest fears for me when I started to
drive. My friend Chase was a troublesome kid at many times, but his
heart was strong. Chase would defend anyone that was lucky enough to
be his friend, no matter the consequence. We had even talked the day
before in Enrichment; therefore, as my mom told me that a drunk
driver had hit him head on, I was hit head on by the emotions and
grief that came from knowing such a person had his life stolen from
him because someone couldn’t wait to sober up before getting behind
the wheel.
It is utterly
important to realize that when you get behind the wheel of a metal
machine weighing thousands of pounds, capable of flying down roads
surplus of one hundred miles per hour, and capable of killing the
innocent people in the machine besides you. Drunk or distracted
driving causes around 14,000 deaths a year. 14,000 lives a year…
lost. Within that huge number aren’t just those who chose to live
recklessly, but those that were just going to a football game, those
going to a birthday party, those that are the friends of many and the
son or daughter of a mom and dad, those heading home from a friend’s
house, like Chase.
As Americans and those across the world try to defeat this gruesome
epidemic, we have to realize that laws won’t stop drunk driving.
It’s illegal to drive under the influence and yet thousands still
die each and every year from it. At the end of the day, the decision
lies within yourself. There are still going to be accidents that we
can’t prevent, but if you make the decision yourself to stay off
your phone while driving, go the speed limit, stop at stop signs, and
not get behind the wheel while intoxicated, then you can save a life.
As my mom finished telling me about my friend that had been killed by
a drunk driver, I realized that while we can’t bring Chase back, we
can learn from what happened to him. If we focus on driving correctly
and safely every time we drive, then we can protect the innocent
people around us and stop slaying people like Chase because we’re
lazy.
