Name: Mercedez Johnson
From: Terrell, Texas
Votes: 0
All My Fault
I have never really been a good driver. I maneuvered through driving
school solely based on my photographic memory. My mother had only let
me drive a couple of times prior to me getting my actual license at
sixteen years old. She always complained that I had a “heavy
foot” like my father and did not slow down enough when it came
to turning. I would try to fix this problem every time I thought
about it whenever I was behind the wheel. Despite my desultory
efforts to drive slower, it did not really stick.
A couple of months ago I went to visit my boyfriend in another state.
I was going to be there for a complete week with no obligation to
anything else. II flew in on a hot, rainy Sunday. Although I was
excited to see him, I was not so happy about not having a car to get
around. Surprisingly, he let me drive his car throughout the week. I
was so nervous at first because I had never really gotten the chance
to drive anyone else’s car and I knew how wild I could drive
sometimes. Eventually, I let it go and started driving his car with
ease. The car was a 2003 Pathfinder, so it was a pretty nice sized
SUV. The old car had a couple of minor issues: the air conditioner
squeaked and the tires would skid every now and then, but these
seemed to be normal conditions for a sixteen-year-old cash car.
Five days had passed and the next morning I would be flying out. It
was a very gloomy day with a high chance of rain just like the other
days of the week. My boyfriend and I decided to spend the day
shopping around and sight see as much as we could. When he picked me
up from where I was staying, he seemed to have an ugly mood so he
insisted that I drive. I asked him throughout the entire day what was
wrong, but for some reason he could not give me a straight answer. We
came to one big intersection. The roads had a lot of water on them
from the rain because there were off-leveled places in the cement. I
had had enough of the attitude my boyfriend was giving me and made up
my mind to push the issue. The light turned green, I eased off of the
brake and onto the gas. By this time, we were going back and forth
about his attitude. We made it through the intersection fine, but
when we got back on the straight away the steering wheel began to go
side to side. The car silenced and we began to savehydroplane! In
this moment, my adrenaline killed in and I had a raging urge to act.
I made the worst decision in this case and smashed the brakes.
Although it all happened so fast, I saw it in slow motion. All I can
remember is feeling that we were up in the air and seeing the cars we
were a millisecond from crashing into. “Skrrrrrrr!”
Silence. It felt like I had just opened my eyes at that moment, but I
know they were open the entire time. I looked over at my boyfriend
who had his head in his hands. Feelings of guilt, shock, and
stupidity came over me like a dark cloud. After making sure my
boyfriend was okay I immediately got out of the car to check on
everyone. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the wreck. Behind a car door
I hit I saw an empty car seat. My heart stopped. I began to cry
uncontrollably because I realized that I could have been the reason
for a child’s death that day. I could have been the reason for all of
our deaths. That car wreck changed not only my outlook on life, but
the way I choose to drive. Sitting behind a wheel is not only a
privilege, but a responsibility as well. When driving, you hold many
lives in your hands. Every time I get behind a wheel now, I drive
carefully and slowly so that everyone in my car and in the cars
around me are safe. Driving is not a game and should never be
carelessly. Safe driving is always the answer.
