“The
Call”
By
Annalie Sandor

Every
day I say goodbye to my friends as they set off home from school.
Every day mothers call goodbye to their children on the way out the
door. Every day children wave goodbye to their parents before they
drive to work. 

No
one is ever expecting the call. 

Men
and women hug their mothers before shipping off to combat. They know
what they’re getting into; the threat of death is all too real.
When they step into the car, though, they immediately grab their
phones, crank up the music, and look at every passing shiny thing. 

Car
wrecks kill more than most wars do. 

Yet,
no one realizes that every time they step into a car, they’re
taking their life in their hands. 

Drivers
are taught the rules of the road, yet the danger of driving is never
impressed unto them. Prospective drivers sit in classrooms and in
lessons, bored and only listening for what they need to know to pass.
They don’t realize how serious of a responsibility it is to drive;
they are not only taking their life in their hands, but the lives of
those in the car with them. I have been in a few accidents in my
life, all of them thankfully not serious and without injury to
anyone, but they were all caused by other drivers being distracted.
People don’t realize the force that a car, moving only 20 mph, can
have, until they’ve experienced it. 

Drivers
should not only be instructed thoroughly in the skills needed for
driving, but also the gravity of what they undertake each time they
start the ignition. Driving can be fun, but it needs to be safe. A
great way to motivate people to drive undistracted is through money:
an app that would close down all notifications, limit volume of
music, read out direction without needing to touch the screen, and
track the use of it. In rewards for driving undistracted, drivers
could get discounts on their insurance, something everyone would
appreciate, especially teens, who, as inexperienced drivers, get
charged higher rates to begin with. 

I
have seen both friends and family drive unsafely: texting,
obsessively checking directions, blasting music, not giving all their
attention to the road. Thankfully it hasn't come back to bite them. 

Yet. 

Helping
your friends and family drive safely is paramount to reducing the
amount of deaths caused by wrecks each year. You have the power to
help, by reminding them to turn down the music, keep their hands off
their phones, reading directions to them, and reminding them to keep
their eyes on the road. 

Thinking
that you won’t be the statistic won’t help. Driving undistracted,
and safely, will. 

Don’t
be the reason someone gets the call. Safe a life, maybe yours, and
drive safely.