Behind the Wheel.

The light turned red. As the Hyundai Kona in front of me approaches a safe stop, so do I. It was 3:46, I had to arrive at work at 4:00, and I was about 15 minutes away. I was hoping my boss wouldn’t be mad at me for showing up exactly one minute late. Turns out I didn’t show up at all. Don’t ever think “I’ll never end up in a car accident!” Nothing is guaranteed, it can happen to anybody anywhere whether you are a safe driver or not.

Suddenly, my head aggressively moved forward then slammed back into my head rest. My Mitsubishi Outlander gets pushed into the Hyundai Kona that was sitting still ahead of me. I had no idea what had just happened. The guy driving the Toyota Sienna, who was already at a full stop behind me, rear ended me. The force pushed my car forward, resulting in a three way collision. When the police came, the officer was obviously asking us what had happened. The driver of the Sienna couldn’t give a clear answer. So he received a ticket for careless driving. 

Since the car accident, I’ve been affected both physically and mentally. During the scene of the accident, I felt immediate pressure on the back of my head. A few minutes after the incident, my father took me to the emergency room. They indicated no brain bleeds, but they advised my dad to monitor me for symptoms. As days went on, I would complain about headaches, extreme fatigue, and loud noises hurting my head. Since I’ve never had a concussion, I wasn’t aware of the symptoms, until I had gotten diagnosed with one. It lasted for a good month. To this day, I complain about headaches and random pain in my head. Which I never used to do before the car accident occurred

Mentally, I would say that the accident has made me a better driver. The guy who hit me most likely thought the light was green, or was distracted doing something else rather than paying attention. And that's not someone I want to be like when I’m on the roads. I don't want to be careless. I don’t want to put people's lives at risk, especially for something that can easily be avoided if I just pay attention. 

Even before experiencing a car accident, I knew how important it was to be safe on the roads. The accident just opened up my eyes. The road I got hit on is well known for having car accidents. And that’s something that's too normalized in this world. Caring about road safety needs to be taken seriously. According to CHG law, 41% of accidents are caused by recognition errors, 33% are caused by decision errors, 11% are caused by performance errors, and 7% are caused by non-performance errors. Recognition errors and decision errors are ranked extremely high. I will admit, I’ve made recognition and decision errors. I’m not perfect. But making those mistakes only taught me the importance of driving education. Simply just being alert and attentive can save lives. 

How did making mistakes on the road teach me the importance of driving education? One reason, which was my biggest issue when driving, was always worrying about what the person behind me would think. But then I put it into perspective. Is the person driving behind me going to be at my hospital bed? Are they actually going to care if I crash due to their impatience? The answer is most likely no. So why feel pressured to wait a little longer at a yield? I stopped worrying about how others will react and I started worrying about my safety. Not only am I just safe, but others around me are as well. 

There are multiple steps that can be taken to reduce deaths when it comes to driving. A first step that can be taken, which occurs pretty often, is not being on your phone while driving. Looking away from the road for just a few seconds can cost a life. Need to send a text? Pull over. It’s as simple as that. Another very huge issue is drunk driving. That can be prevented in many ways. If you’ve had too much to drink, don’t get in the car. Stay over at your friend's house. Have someone who’s sober drive the car. I’m listing very simple steps to prevent a crash, but are not taken seriously.  Which just shows how careless individuals can be. One last and final step that can be taken is to be patient. There is absolutely no rush. It’s better to be late to your destination than to have your life taken. It shouldn’t make you mad that the person in front of you is taking too long to turn at a stop sign. It shouldn't annoy you that somebody is going the speed limit. Little reasons that people get annoyed at, become big reasons as to why deaths occur when driving.