Distracted Driving and it's consequences

I was born in late February, which meant some of my peers had their drivers license before me but not everyone. I had failed my first road test and I was very upset about it, but the second time around I was able to pass. At the time I was extremely excited to get my license. It gave me a new found sense of freedom that I did not feel that I had beforehand. I was able to see my friends more and I was able to meet with my then girlfriend at the time when and wherever I wanted to. I felt free. This all happened mid september and I was very proud of myself. My driver's ed  instructor told me that about one in nine teenagers get into an accident and I started to just assume I was one of the other eight. Fast forward about a month and I felt pretty good. 

Then came one Thursday in October, I remember it was specifically a Thursday afternoon because I was excited for the weekend. I was driving home from a gas station listening and singing along to “”Free Fallin” by Tom Petty. The cars at the red light ahead of me were backed up far more than they usually are, though it was rush hour. I wasn’t paying very much attention and before I knew it I was speeding towards a stationary car sitting at  the red light. I hit the brakes but even slowing down as much as the car possibly could, it wasn't enough. Immediately upon crashing into the back of the parked car a plume of dust burst into the front seat. The airbag had gone off. I sat there for maybe three seconds thinking about how it was all over, the freedom and ability to go where I wished. Then remembering that I had hit someone else, I jumped out of the car and ran over to the car I had hit, I asked if everyone was okay. The driver was fine but the elderly man in the passenger seat had been quite rattled, ultimately he was okay but I was worried about him. I quickly called my father while the driver called the police to come help and resolve the issue. My car was just sitting in the road until the police were able to move it. Remarkably the car was able to be just driven off the road into the nearby parking lot, only the front bumper was really damaged. It even seemed that we could possibly salvage the car entirely within a couple of hours at the repair shop. The other guy's car looked quite a bit worse with a jacked up trunk and a back bumper that had half fallen off. Truth be told I was in tears, I was scared, worried, and felt really bad about inconveniencing the other guy. The cop asked for my license and ran it through the system, all good. My dad eventually showed up and helped sort everything out with the police. We left to go home just after the tow truck had towed both cars out of sight. Later I found out that the car was not exactly totaled in the traditional way, apparently it would have cost about half the value of the car to fix the airbags alone. I was disappointed, I really like my sleek shiny red 2018 Chevy Cruze, I had even named it Chevy. Seriously, I couldn't think of another automobile manufacturing company that you could name your car after, none of them sounded quite as good as chevy. Here's the real irony though, I got into that car crash about one hundred yards from where I took my in classroom Drivers Ed, a stone's throw away as they say. Distracted driving is far and away the biggest cause of car accidents, which is why I need to pay more attention on the road. While I wasn't distracted by something people are more often distracted by such as, their cell phone or a friend in the passenger's seat, I was distracted by the music. Playing music in the car isn’t necessarily distracting. I just happened to let it be a distraction. My ultimate takeaway is this; A) Don't be distracted while on the road, B) Do the opposite of distracted driving, (AKA paying close attention). I know I am not the only person let alone teenager who has been in a car accident, however they are not fun and quite stressful. For those reasons I will and have over the past 8 months paid much closer attention while driving.