The Key in Your Pocket

Growing up, my mother told me the stories of the few car accidents she's been in. Results of these accidents have been death, injury, and life-long health complications. Without fail at the end of every story she would tell me, “You never forget the sound of it.”

I was in hand with two friends heading back to my dorm room late at night. From behind me a “SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEK” echoed in my ears. When I turned around I realized it was the sound of the rubber from the tires escaping onto asphalt. I watched in horror as a white sedan hit the medium, took flight into the air, and paused slightly – almost with grace – before angrily pounding into a black SUV which was pushed into three more parked cars. Me and my friends watched as the passengers jumped out of the white sedan consumed with adrenaline and began accessing the damage while arguing with each other proving that they were all under the influence. 

My mom was right. I have not forgotten the screeches, exploding sound waves, and fear from that night and I was not in the car. That night could have gone much differently. There could have been serious injuries or even death, but they were able to walk away with damage done to 4 cars and probably a headache while in handcuffs. This does not have to be you, but it could happen to anyone. Most importantly, you do not have to be under the influence for this to happen. All it takes is one distracted look at your phone, poking at the screen inside your car to find directions, driving home after a late shift, yelling at kids in the backseat, or digging through a backpack.

Most individuals with cars do not think with the mindset of driving with a weapon; although, if you have a pair of keys in your pocket then you are an owner of one. This will be even more relevant as cars produced continue to get bigger and heavier, attention spans are impacted by short-form content, people rush to get to jobs and drive home late to be able afford living in an expensive economy, more screens continue being implemented into cars, and the increase in reactive behavior on the road. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize your damage as a driver and much of this comes from driver education. 

Furthermore, driver education doesn’t only have to come from a course taken in high school for graduation credit. Driver education looks like fast-paced action car movies accompanied by conversations with friends or family about how there should be no attempts to recreate the reckless driving, sharing facts and statistics about automotive related deaths with friends who drive carelessly, learning to drive for both yourself and others on the road, and learning the signs of car driving from those under the influence or fatigue are all steps that can taken to reduce the numbers of death related to driving. 

Despite the damage that comes about from driving recklessly, there still exist people where the impact is little to none. One of the same friends that witnessed the car in flight mentioned at the beginning, drives just as recklessly. The only difference is she is not under the influence. Following the crash, none of her dangerous driving habits subsided. I find this to be the result of normalizing car accidents. It is a consistent possibility of driving a car, but it should not be a normalized possibility. Every driver should be implementing preventive measures such as using their phone when their car is not moving, paying attention to other drivers, using your signals when appropriate, moving anything they need while driving in near-reach before they begin driving, checking their blind spots before driving off, and not driving with fatigue.

Driving will continue to become more dangerous and take the lives of those who both drive recklessly and responsibly. Additionally, some states still follow the COVID influenced change of  not requiring a driver’s test for a license. There is also no redemonstration of being a safe driver to maintain your license unless you have a vehicle-related criminal charge. While we are human and bound to make mistakes and endanger others while driving, there is also a systemic change that must take place to ensure safe driving. Rather than only implementing safety features as a way to attract consumers, there needs to be regulations created for safe vehicle size and weight. Modern day trucks and SUVs consistently fail to allow the driver to see a child or even some adults standing up straight in front of their car. 

The key in our pocket does not have to be a weapon. Drive as if everyone is your friend or family on the road. Additionally, keep in mind those you have to make it home to so you do not have to go to sleep at night hearing the sounds of metal crinkling and windshields exploding or not being able to sleep at all ever again. Driver education through a course, friend, or news article; driving with empathy; maintaining safe driving habits; and fighting for manufacturing automotive regulations can help prevent car accidents and car-related fatalities.