I
clicked my seatbelt as I got in the passenger seat of my friends’
car. It could have been the last time I clicked a seatbelt, or road
in a car, or simply took a breath. As we drive down the dilapidated
road covered by a serine tunnel of trees my friend whips out her cell
phone. I was astonished, was she really risking our lives to send a
text? I had no idea what to do, I mean yeah it was wrong, but who was
I to say what she could do while she drove, I mean after all she was
the one with a license. My mind spun. All of a sudden, my friend
drifted into the oncoming traffic and a semi-truck collided with her
small Volkswagen sedan. There she went, headfirst out of the
windshield because no one ever stressed to her the importance of a
seatbelt. She flew out of the now compacted hunk of metal onto the
pavement, where her once beautiful figure, now resembled roadkill. As
for me, the airbag didn’t deploy, and I slammed my head into the
dash breaking a large number of bones in my face and rupturing my
spinal cord. Was this my life now? My friend on the concrete, dead.
And me possibly paralyzed with most of skull in pieces? All because
my friend wanted to send a stupid message.

I
snap back into reality; my daydreams get the best of me sometimes. I
scream as I think of what I’ve just imagined could become our
certainty. “Put your phone down!” I shriek. “We could die! And
wear your seatbelt, what if we crashed?” She glanced at me, shocked
at the demands I’ve just yelled at her. Yet she complied, knowing I
was right, knowing that if she swerved while on her phone it could
be the end of life as we knew it.

This
is a situation many teens find themselves in. Speak up! Not only is
your life at risk but the lives of others on the road. The road is a
shared place, a place where sadly, catastrophe is around every
corner, especially due to poor decisions like the one I’ve
described. So instead of checking your phone, or sending that text,
just wait until you get to where you need to be. Utilize apps or
technologies that make phones inaccessible as you drive. Share the
importance of safety while driving, because as more people become
aware of the danger that fills the open road, the more people who
will act responsibly and lower the statistics. After my experiences
on the road, I will never lift up my cell phone and I will make sure
my friends don’t either. The most important part of driving is
sadly preparing for the worst, so every time you get in the car click
your seatbelt, and make sure your passengers too, because in the
unfortunate event of disaster you’ll be one step closer to
survival.