Sixteen
and Somewhat In Control
At sixteen, I
felt as if freedom was finally attainable. I sat in the cool cloth
seats of my brand new, but definitely not new, 2009 Subaru Forester
ready for any thing that life had to throw at me. I could take it (of
course) because now I could drive so that meant I could pretty much
do anything in the world. Right? Better yet, my best friend had
gotten her brand new, definitely new, Ford 3 days prior. Olivia and I
were untouchable, or so we thought.

On our way to a
coffee shop to work on our Sophomore year Biology project, we were
finally touched. As Olivia pulled off of a street and onto US-31 with
our favorite songs turned up as loud as possible we were struck by a
woman switching lanes going as fast as 75 mph and worst of all on her
phone. With three children in the back of her car, she flew over the
Ford, the train tracks and into the woods. 30 yards.

Whether it was
the music distracting us or the phone distracting her, two 16 year
olds, a five, seven, eleven and 41 year old were scarred. Though we
thank god everyday that no one was seriously injured, not all people
are as lucky as we were. If phones had not been a factor in this
accident – it could have been prevented. The same goes for all of
the other technology related crashes that happen. If drivers were
more focused on the road then their phones, the roads would be a
safer place for everyone.
Next time you
drive, whether you are 16 or 60, be mindful of your actions and how
they may affect others. And please, put your phone down.