She came in by helicopter to the emergency room. Her arm was already suffering from compartment syndrome so severe that she was rushed to emergency surgery, where her arm was amputated above the elbow joint. When she was finally admitted into the burn unit, she was met with wound care for her burns and four people in the room just to turn her to her side because of her unstable spinal fractures. She was in a car accident. She was not the driver. She was merely the passenger in a vehicle where someone else was under the influence of drugs. While she lay in a hospital bed, the driver was already deceased. Working in a burn unit, I have a unique perspective on motor vehicle accidents. I see what happens when death is not the outcome. Now that society is on the other side of a global pandemic, motor vehicle accidents are back on the rise. Thus, motor vehicle-related fatalities are also on the rise. We are the only thing that can help reduce motor vehicle accidents. We must be the change.
Where do we start if we are the only ones who can help prevent motor vehicle fatalities? Everyone’s first inclination will be to increase education for teenagers and the next generation of young drivers. Now that smartphones are an extension of most people's hands, we do an excellent job educating about distracted driving. Texting and driving is the most common version of distracted driving, but it can also extend to things like eating, changing the radio, or even looking at a car that is getting stopped by the police. But, there is room to grow regarding driver education for teens. I think an area that gets brushed under the rug often is vehicle maintenance. Not many parents are delving into the importance of oil changes, brake pads, rotors, and tire treads. If your breaks are old, you might not be able to stop emergently, and if you have no tread on your tires, one rainy day can send you into a spiral; these are the things we should be telling teenagers. I was the teen who didn’t change my oil for years and had the same old tires on my car until my tire blew on the freeway. I was lucky and could pull over to the side of the highway, but that was just luck. We need to expand what we define as necessary education for driver training. It goes beyond what occurs on the road.
I have been in a bad car accident. I was driving a Toyota Camry, and a semi-truck merged into my lane because it could not see me. The semi-truck driver did not even notice they hit me. I spun out across the freeway, and they kept driving. My car was so low to the ground in comparison to them they probably did not see me spin out and hit the median behind them. Luckily, another driver pulled over and told the police what they had witnessed. I received a payment from my insurance company for my vehicle, which was so severely damaged that it was totaled. I wish I had known as a young driver that the bigger the car, the larger the blind spots, especially regarding semi-trucks. I know I can take small steps to make myself a safer driver. I can ensure I leave my house on time to avoid driving in a rush. I can put my phone on driving mode so that I will not receive notifications that might tempt me to drive distracted. I can wait until I get home to eat my fast food of choice, which will always be Taco Bell. Lastly, I can keep up with my car maintenance, saving me every day without me lifting a finger.
The girl who came into my burn unit left the hospital about six months later. She had one arm, significant scarring, and one working eye. She will undergo more surgeries; she will be in physical therapy for the rest of her life. Her independence no longer exists. She is a testament to the importance of not only not driving under the influence but never getting in the car with someone who is either. You don’t have to be the one driving to feel the devastation of motor vehicle accidents. There were many moments where she wished she had not made it out of the car. Unfortunately, what happened to her was entirely preventable. I end up meeting those on the other side of the crash, and I hope I never have to meet you.