Not-So-Happy Accidents

Early on a Monday morning in late August, I hop in the car with my dad and we sped away, heading to school. Not long into the trip, we were driving up a hill, when suddenly, a deer unexpectedly jumped in front of our car. My dad swerved to miss it, and the car did a 180 and the passenger side slammed into the hill on the right side of the road. The damage was decently significant, with the fender dragging the ground and the passenger side banged in from the impact. Unfortunately, this is not the only accident my dad or I have been in. Once, I was riding with my boyfriend when his tire blew and his car did the same 180 and almost flipped. Another time, a car slammed into the passenger side of my parent’s vehicle, which resulted in my mom getting a titanium plate placed in her neck. And when I was only 2 years old, another rider collided with my dad on their four-wheelers. This resulted in a punctured lung and broken ribs and wrist for my dad, and an airlift for the other rider.

If my boyfriend had checked his tires for any issues, we wouldn’t have almost flipped. If my dad had kept an eye out for deer, the chance of our accident would have been reduced. If the other driver had kept her eyes on the road and not on her phone, my mom wouldn’t have been subjected to surgery. If everyone took just a few steps to be a little safer, these accidents would have been avoided. Checking tires regularly and ensuring that vehicles are in running condition can prevent many accidents like the one my boyfriend and I were involved in. Putting phones down and on “silent” or “Do Not Disturb” can prevent not just accidents, but deaths. While not much can be done about the deer population, if every driver keeps an alert eye on the road and isn’t distracted, unnecessary accidents can be avoided.

Personally, it has become very important to me to practice safe driving. My phone sits beside me in the seat of my truck, screen down to where I can’t see it. Since I drive lifted f250 truck, I focus on keeping my speed at safe levels and keeping other driver's safe. If I were to get into a serious accident, deaths would almost certainly occur, and so it is my duty to ensure that these accidents don’t happen. Every driver should carry this philosophy, or one similar to it. This could easily be taught in drivers education classes, along with the steps that people can take to be safer drivers on the road, including putting phones away and keeping eyes on the road. If every driver took these steps, took a drivers ed class, adopted that philosophy of it is their job to prevent accidents, then accidents like the ones I’ve experienced in my life can be avoided and lives can be saved.