If you have ever been in a car accident, you know how scary it can be. Even something as seemingly minor as a “fender bender” can get your heart racing let alone a collision on a major highway. I have been involved in both. When I was twelve my family moved my soon to be stepmother and her children from Wisconsin to Florida. It was a long trip, and all hands were deck. It was the middle of the night, and I was asleep in the back of the car while my uncle was driving when I felt the vehicle swerving and then an impact.
Smoke was everywhere and people were stopping to help us kids get safely to the side of the road and helping the adults push the car to the emergency lane. I could see a deer laying there dead. My uncle said he saw the deer in the road and honked his horn, but the deer did not move. I do not know if my uncle was speeding, or if he was driving distracted by his phone or something else. It was late, the middle of the night, so he could have been tired. Maybe there was nothing he could have done in this situation to avoid it, but it is something that has made an impact on me and I consider it when I am driving and making choices about routes to take or times of day or night to drive. I live in an area where I could be driving on city streets or less populated rural backroads more prone to have deer crossing and I now take this into consideration.
Recently my dad and I were in the car, and we were driving through our neighborhood. He was on his phone and a car began to back out of its driveway. My dad did not see the car due to his phone use and the driver of the other car clearly did not see us because he backed his car right into the passenger side of our vehicle where I was sitting. The other driver was found to be at fault for that accident, but I cannot help but wonder if my dad had not been distracted by his phone maybe the accident could have been avoided.
I have a lot of family members in Law Enforcement and over the course of my life they have shared stories with me of the hard things they have seen that no one should have to see. They have told me about having to break the news to a parent about the loss of their child and holding someone’s hand and praying for them while they take their last breath.
Driving is a privilege, and we should be treating it as such. Before we can get a license, we have to educate ourselves on our responsibilities as drivers and take tests to test our knowledge of laws, the hazards of driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol and even a practical test to demonstrate our safety and proficiency with a vehicle but it seems like we just do this with thought of doing what we have to do to get our license rather than considering the responsibility we now have. I know I was guilty of that.
It is important that we take this privilege seriously and take time to consider how our actions can in a moment change the course of our lives or that of another. Car accidents at minimum cause loss of time and money and on the harshest end of this spectrum loss of life or quality of life. Driving education is important as we are so often functioning in our own world with little thought for others or how we can impact the life of another. Things as simple as putting our phones away where we cannot reach them to look at them, pulling our vehicles over in a safe place if we do need to use them, wearing our seat belts and requiring all passengers to wear them as well can make such a difference. Observing speed limits and making appropriate weather-related adjustments as well as having a plan prior to going out for the night are also important. Choosing a designated driver or everyone chipping in for an Uber or Lyft is also an option to make sure that no one is driving while under the influence or simply tired. Or in the case of the accident when I was a child choosing a different route or driving at a different time of day when the chance of encountering a deer is less likely can help keep us all safer on the road.