Name: Julia Tripp
From: Westport, Massachusetts
Votes: 0
Prevention not Prediction
When my dad was seventeen, the
same age that I am now, he flew out of the passenger seat of his
friend’s car and smashed down on the pavement. Nearly all of his
teeth cracked, chipped, or fell out of his mouth, his rear was badly
broken and his left shoulder and collarbone were severely damaged. I
asked him about it just recently and the only thing he remembers is
the speed of the car. He didn’t think they would crash, and
certainly neither did his friend, but now my dad’s teeth are held
together with glue and he can never sleep or lay down on his left
side.
You are never invincible
behind the wheel. You can’t predict that a deer will jump out in
front of you, or that you’ll lose control of the wheel, or that a
car will swerve into your lane. You can’t predict a car accident,
but you can prevent it.
Prevention starts by knowing
the rules, practicing them, and enforcing them. I remember being so
excited once I started taking my driving safety classes, knowing that
sometime very soon I, myself, would be behind the wheel. I took
dozens of notes, in fear that I might miss out on something
important. In retrospect, I’m glad I did, because, in order to
drive safely, you need to know what that looks like. Some of my
classmates would tell me that they felt those classes are a waste of
time and money. While I knew the cost of the classes was high, I
would rather pay in dollars than with my own life or somebody
else’s’.
I have had my driver’s
license for a little over three months now and that means I give my
younger brother rides home from school. To put someone else in your
car is to promise them that you will keep them safe and out of harm’s
way. I drive an older car, a 93’ Ford Taurus, and it doesn’t have
any of the loud warnings if you forget to put on your seatbelt or get
too close to the car in front of you that newer cars have. Because of
this, I must remember and keep in mind the rules of safe driving, to
protect not only my own life but my brother’s as well. I wish that
someone had made and upheld this promise to my dad when he was my age
because if someone had, he would be able to sleep well at night and
still have all of his original teeth.
