A Dream That Changed My Driving

About 40,000 people die each year due to car accidents, and 2.2 million people get injured. During driving classes over the summer, my instructor used to make us watch many videos on how to stay safe because these accidents often happen due to silly mistakes like being distracted while driving. I always thought it couldn’t be that deep after watching many videos emphasizing the same things for over 2 hours. Sometimes it was just too boring to care. When I finished my driver's ed by the end of summer, I started driving my dad’s car, and honestly, I was the best driver ever, but that only lasted until I got my own car. 

Getting my own car felt like I could do whatever I wanted since it was mine and my own responsibility if something happens to it so I won’t need to feel guilty for my parents if I crashed it. So then came the fun, I was hanging out with friends all the time, driving with loud music, forgetting to put my signals, using my phone while driving, and driving at night and in poor weather conditions. After every ride, I used to remember those videos of danger, and the real cases that happened to young teenage girls like me, but I didn’t care too much until I realized I was risking my life and my friends. It hit me deeper after a nightmare I had, I was driving my new car which was a 2018 Sante Fe Sport on 275 interstates on the way to pick up my two girlfriends while one was already in the car with me. I love my friends so dearly and personally they are the best people to hang out with because they are fun, outgoing, silly and funny. Their personalities are so fun that it was distracting while driving like usual. However, in my dreams it changed from being just a little to excessive. My friend riding with me liked to joke and would continuously joke about a hazard being on the road causing me to brake fast, swerve, and do unsafe things out of fear. At one point, I knew her tricks, so I started to swerve and brake randomly to scare her in return. Although we would laugh it off it led to total disaster and caused the car to lose control and crash into another car causing more cars to also crash because of the sudden hit. I can vividly remember the feeling of the sudden crash playing in slow motion in my dreams. I felt my chest start to hurt when I saw my friend injured with blood and glass all over her skin while screaming and crying. My life froze in disbelief. When the police and ambulance finally arrived, she was pronounced dead at scene, and I survived with major injuries. In my dream I felt like a horrible friend, a failure, and even a killer. I was the cause of her death. Although it was just a dream, the feeling felt like it was real and I woke up with tears falling from my eyes to my pillow from the side of my face. That’s when I realized I need to make a change if I don’t want myself and my friends to be in danger. 

That’s when I took it slower. I started denying distracting friends to ride and making sure they control themselves before I start driving, making sure everyone wears their seatbelts including myself, turning my signals on when necessary, letting other cars pass, stopping at every stop sign, and following speed limits. 

You might think the impact wasn’t strong like others who have experienced an accident but that’s not true, the truth is anything can have a strong impact if it creates a change. With just the thought of what could happen when I applied myself in a reckless driver’s shoes made a huge impact on how I should change into becoming safe driver. Not only to protect myself by anyone who is driving with me. 

If you think about it, by being a courteous driver, I make an impact by helping reduce the number of deaths and injuries due to car incidents. Being a safe driver doesn’t mean only protecting yourself, it means protecting those around you too like a new teenager who just started driving, a person with slow reaction skills, or even an elderly person who may be driving slowly. I’ve learned that it’s not worth it to risk your goals, dreams, future, and life for one second of fun that could lead to one second before death.