I Never Thought It Would Happen To Me

I honestly thought I learned everything in my Driver's Ed class and was an excellent driver. I always went the speed limit and stayed off of my phone. But in an instant that all changed-something as little as a noise distracted me and caused me to get in an accident. Yes, a noise. The temperature had dropped and it was the first time I was driving below 32 degrees and my car alarmed due to drop in temperature. Looking down for a split second caused me to rear end the person in front me. I was a wreck-how could this happen? The dreaded phone call to my parents was probably the worst. But I knew there was nothing at that moment that I could have done to change it, or was there? For the longest time, I blamed that noise and when people asked how it happened, that it was I told them. It wasn't my fault, it was the noises fault. It took me a long time to come to terms that it really wasn't the noise that caused the accident, it was me. I caused that accident because I was following too close. Kids my age think we always need to be in a hurry, so following so close might just get that person in front of us to go faster, right? WRONG! PLEASE remember to keep 2 car lengths between you and the other driver in front of you. If you need to be somewhere, allow extra time or just be a little late if you have to. I was lucky I didn't get hurt and neither did the other driver, but YOU might not be so lucky. Take your time, slow down and get to where you need to go safely.