In
a Flash
Car
accidents happen quite often and can be scary once you’ve
experienced it. The first time I was in a car accident was when I was
14 years old. I was being driven to a school around El Cajon for my
Academic League competition, where my advisor had stopped at a red
light, waiting for his turn to make a right. The radio was off, and
the road was smooth. My advisor had no phone in his hands and
continued to glance at the streetlight in the night. With the bright
flash of green, he turned right. Despite all these precautions, I
felt a shock to my right side, followed by a screeching sound. As my
advisor drove off to the curb, a huge truck followed behind us. When
the truck driver stepped out with his phone in his hand, he started
accusing my advisor of hitting his truck. While a huge dent to the
side of my advisor’s car remained, not a scratch was done to the
truck’s front side. As the truck driver went back into his truck
after giving my advisor an earful, he drove off with his phone in
hand. Although my advisor took precautions, it gave him nothing good
but a huge dent in his car, along with 4 scared students, including
myself. Because of that truck not taking these precautionary
measures, it could’ve cost us our lives. This is just one of many
situations that proves people need to be more aware of the risks in
driving.

No
matter how cautious we are when driving, it won’t matter if others
won’t do so. For instance, we may see warning signs to not text and
drive, but if a driver is distracted, they won’t even notice the
sign and they’ll be in an accident. Therefore, before one starts
driving, one should relearn the basics and essentials of driver
education. This includes wearing a seat belt, keeping your eyes on
the road, looking at your mirrors, and to be aware of your habits. If
you know you are going to look at your phone for instance, take the
time to turn off your phone or store your phone somewhere you can’t
reach in the car. By doing so, you can save yourself the stress of
getting involved in hurting someone and yourself. In addition, we can
remove these distractions by lowering any music or the radio, turning
off our phones, and to keep our eyes on the road. In doing so, we can
save many lives as well as our own. For every life that is lost,
there is a family that grieves in pain and suffering. Let’s not be
the cause of others’ pain and suffering. In order to reduce car
accidents, one must remember to drive safely. Driver safety may not
seem like much since you would be an individual doing it alone.
However, communities start to adapt to individuals. Driver safety
starts with you and will start today.