Name: Mason Doige
From: Houston, TX
Votes: 0
Enjoying
the Pretty Days in Texas
In
Texas we call beautiful sunny days “pretty days”. Saturday,
October 15, 2016, was just such a day Houston, Texas. I’ll always
remember that day. My mom had just picked me up from a career
exploration event downtown. We were headed home in her white Jeep
YJ. About 3 blocks from home the light turned red and we stopped.
When the light turned green she proceeded into the intersection and
we both saw a red Jeep Cherokee heading towards us. I remember my
mom saying, “I don’t think that car is going to stop.” It didn’t.
The driver ran a red light and hit us broadside in the
intersection. The car was going so fast that when it hit us on the
passenger side it caused our vehicle to roll completely over. All I
remember was the impact and the spinning. Then I lost consciousness
for a few seconds. When I came to I could hear sirens in the
distance. This was bad.
Our
vehicle had flipped, spun and slid so far that we were out of the
intersection. My mom and I were hanging from the seatbelts. The
airbags didn’t deploy because of the angle of the impact but the
front window was shattered and the roof settled onto the roll bars.
The other vehicle remained right side up in the intersection. People
started coming out of nearby restaurants and an apartment. They must
have been worried about a fire starting because they began unlocking
our seatbelts and getting us out.By the time police and fire arrived
we were both out of our vehicle. The other driver and 2 young
children had also been assisted out of their vehicle and were sitting
on the sidewalk.
So
what happened to make this other driver run that red light? We’ll
never know. We do know that both my mom and I suffered concussions.
We both went for endless doctors appointments and each were required
to follow concussion protocol. For me that meant staying out of
school for 2 weeks full time and 2 weeks part time. My mom continues
with issues of traumatic brain injury.
After
all of this I can honestly say driver safety is critically important
to me. As a teen driver, and a male teen driver at that, I don’t
buy into the fact that we are all risky drivers. The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2017 that teen drivers
are nearly three times more likely than those 20 and older to be in a
fatal crash. That does sound like the majority are risky. The
riskiest driver I’ve ever known about was the driver who hit us.
Interestingly
enough, she was
middle aged Nothing to do with underdeveloped teenage brain or
inexperience.The accident I was in had no fatalities but it certainly
could have. After the accident, and the process with doctors and
lawyers, I took extra in-car drivers ed practice as I was a
little jumpy and needed to smooth that out.
What
steps can be taken to reduce the number of deaths? Drivers ed,
for one. The State of Texas does a good job of that: prior to
getting your permit and your license there are tests you must pass.
For the license you also have to have drivers ed with a parent
or with an instructor. Maybe there should be a test for your license
renewal? That might catch some additional dangerous driving types.
As weel, part of drivers ed for teens, I think that having a
parent who can show good driving skills for new drivers to mimic is
important. Why would I not text and drive or drink and drive if my
parents do it?
Another
aspect of safe driving, for everyone, is to have some consequences
for breaking the rules. Why do people slam on the brakes when they
see a potential police car with a radar gun? It’s so they don’t
get a ticket. If more enforcement of the rules occurred, with
stiffer penalties, more people would comply. As for myself, I am very
aware of the rules of the road. My parents also purchased a very
old, very small Jeep TJ with manual transmission. It would be hard
for me to break the speed limit. And that 1will
keep me safe and let me enjoy the pretty days here in Texas.
