My Thoughts About Car Accidents

My name is Sydney N. Wiborg; when you look it up on Google most of the search results would be the car accident I was in. Yes, it is still a part of my everyday life. I am missing teeth and my lip is stitched up, I am 17 and still have surgeries to come. My story is just one of many, the amount of car accidents that happen has made society become numb to the horrible impact. We talk about them during the winter months like it’s everyday life. During the summer there are extensive posts and flowers put out for those who died on the sides of roads. It has become such a common occurrence that street signs have jokes and clever sayings about wearing a seatbelt. If I would’ve been wearing my seatbelt properly I would still have teeth today. If others cared about the education of driving and drinking those young boys would still be alive. I can promise you it is not a joke. On that fateful night 4 young boys died in my car crash. It was a unescapable T-bone that caused a lot of wreckage. I am now their age and I understand the adrenaline desire but everytime I put on my seatbelt and drive I think about them. I think about how the driver killed his best friends and he himself survived. I think about the pain and the impact that had on the families. I can barely drive in the winter anymore because of my stress and trauma. I’ve had to stop on the roads and get rides during the winter because my fear has grown so much. I truly wish that people paid more attention to how impactful and traumatic car accidents are. I would like to have better education about it and find a way to make driving safer for everyone. I also feel like America is a bit behind in the aspect of driving. We as a whole do not take car accidents and DUI’s seriously enough for our people to be safe on the roads. I also believe our country does not take the best care of bike riders on the streets. Just recently, this past summer, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota two of my brother's good friends lost their lives to dangerous drivers on the road. It happens so often that the warning comes with the bike when you buy it. I’ve thought pretty seriously about buying one but I have put it off because I believe it’s not safe. I think like we need to be a lot safer on the roads. Personally being in a car accident it's been very present in my life but I feel like with other people it just doesn’t cross their mind as much. I wish it would. For my sake and for those boys who all died for no good reason. I wish people would think about other people more. Our society is so selfish about time and opinions that we barely take the time to think or care about anybody but ourselves. Especially on the roads we seem to lose our humanity and empathy for others. Why I mean is how often do you find yourself getting mad at another driving or saying they should know better instead of thinking about their situation. Some instances are obviously gonna be regular human things but the rest might be just lack of education or other life problems. Phones on the road have become so prevalent it’s pretty scary to think about anymore honestly; I hate seeing it. Especially in my generation there are lots of people who do not take texting, calling, drinking while driving, and speeding seriously. I find that more terrifying than just about anything else in life. How are we so numb to the reality of danger. I wish I could show them the pain and tell them countless stories to make the fear feel real to them instead of just chance. I wish driving education was better in our country. I wish I could do more than just join a club and tell my story about why I’m missing teeth. I wish I could stop people from drinking and driving. Unsurprisingly and for the unfortunate people living on this earth I can’t do it all. I just wish we could. Maybe someday we’ll get a car that can drive itself safely keeping its passengers at an all time high alive rate. Until then we’re stuck in a world informing others of the pain, suffering, and fear of driving regular streets just because of human stupididy.