My Car Accident

Tumbling down the hill on the morning of the one car accident I’ve unfortunately been involved in, the topic of driver’s safety was not of most concern. Tears and trauma were the basis of the day that changed my life forever. However, looking back, that accident could’ve been avoided and many of thousands of car accidents across our nation could be as well. To go into depth on my personal experience, my dad was speeding up a hill to hop over it to make my brother and I stomachs tickle. The intention was good but by hill jumping my dad didn’t realize the irresponsibility in his actions. After totaling our family car, he swore never to hill jump again and never to put his kids in danger like that again.
According to the CDC, around 90 people on average die a day in motor vehicle accidents. Not only that but on average, 34,000 people on average die each year as a result of driving. Even though the number of fatalities has gone down in the span between 2005 and 2012, the number does not depict how many distracted related accidents happen each year. Just because people don’t always die in car accidents does not mean that people won’t fall victim of PTSD or extreme trauma related illnesses following very scary car accidents. According to the Wikipedia graph and table, about 35,000 people died in 2012 in highway fatalities which is more than the bottom six of the most fatal wars in history. All of these devastating numbers could be avoided if drivers committed to a more focused and concerned state when driving.
Getting a license to drive is a rite of passage that should not be taken for granted and should be held with more responsibility to ensure the number of distracted drivers goes down. The education of driver’s safety is a very important step in this process as well as taking personal steps as well. Education of driver’s safety does ensure that you pay attention by teaching the rules of the road. On top of this people should take responsibility to make sure that they are not distracted drivers. For instance, drivers should constantly scan and pay attention as well as not adhere to the wants of others in the car if it is dangerous. I learned my lesson on this and will never put the wants of others in my car before their safety.
In conclusion, the number of deaths related to distracted driving is way too high and should be addressed in order to make a change. Driving education has gone as far as it can go without teaching basic common sense to drivers such as “don’t text and drive” or “don’t hill jump.” Therefore, as drivers, it is our responsibility to maintain a safe environment for not only ourselves but also those around us. Luckily, the very scary day I got in my car accident didn’t hurt anyone. However, it could have been a disaster and killed many of people. So, not only will I be striving to maintain safety within my driving, but I also encourage others as well to end all the consequences of distracted driving.