Name: Ailean Duffie
From: Wilmington, Ohio
Votes: 0
It
all happened in a blur. The phone started ringing and my father rose
from his chair. I looked up from the floor to see him walk, pick up
the phone, and I remember the way his gentle eyes turned wide in a
look that could only be panic. He called my mother frantically, but I
could only make out fragments out of words that sent shivers down my
spine. My father kissed me on the head as he grabbed his keys to walk
out the door and said that he would be back soon. I could tell that
something was wrong by the way he rushed, he never rushed. All I
could recall was the way his eyes turned when he picked up that
phone.
I
would not find out until days later what had happened. My father and
mother sat me down on the couch and began speaking slowly, telling me
that everything was going to be all right. I could tell from my
mother’s short breaths that that was not true. They told me that my
uncle Chris had been in a horrible accident. A few days earlier, he
had been driving his motorcycle on the highway when another car
swerved into his lane while they were not paying attention. His
motorcycle had flipped and sent him soaring into the air with nothing
but his helmet to save his life. They told me that he was in a coma
now and the doctors were doing everything that they could to help him
regain consciousness. My heart broke when I heard this news. My
family had suffered a hard year with my grandfather’s death and
this was not making that grief any easier. Thankfully, he woke up
after a month of a coma, but the trials did not stop there. When he
woke up, the doctors found that he was paralyzed from his waist down.
My uncle would never walk again.
I
remember going to visit him in the hospital and all I could think
about was what would have happened if he had stayed home today? What
would have happened if he were stuck at a red light? Would that
second have saved his life? As I mulled over these questions more and
more, I thought about the other side of things. I should not be
blaming my uncle for something that was not his own fault. He could
have driven slower or faster, but that would have not put him out of
harm’s way. The person in the other car made a decision that day that
changed my family. They chose that their personal distraction was
more important than the lives that were going on around them. This
driver walked away from the accident unscathed, but because of their
mistake, my uncle will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
If the driver in the other car had taken that one second to be
distracted my uncle would be okay. This mistake that they believed to
be so miniscule changed a life forever.
This
has always stuck in the back of my mind while I drive. Not only did
it teach me to make sure that I was driving safe, it influenced me to
be a better driver for the people around me. I have been told to make
sure that I am driving safe for my own benefit, but they never taught
me to be safe for the people around me. I drive now for myself and
for the other people on the road. When driving you should be just as
careful for the people that are in your car as the people that are in
the cars around you. Whenever I turn that my key into ignition I
think about the lives that I can effect on the road. Never let a
small distraction take away a bigger piece of someone’s life.
Distracted driving is one of the most dangerous things that one can
encounter while driving but it is also very easy to avoid. I believe
many people are selfish drivers and only pay attention to what will
benefit them. However, we need to learn to become selfless drivers
and pay attention to the lives that are on the other side of that
dotted line. One little distraction can make a big difference.
