The mental side of driving

“MAMI MAMI” was all I could scream when being thrown forward against seatbelts. I held tight onto my mom’s arms while we tried to regain consciousness. The sound of the police and ambulance , Glass shattered all over the car floor, outside, and all over our hair.I could see the fear and confusion in everyone's eyes while making sure that we were all okay. At this moment I realized how fast someone's life could change forever because of one bad decision while driving.Everything happened so fast we didn't have time to process what was going on. I realiized how important safe and responsible driving truly is.

 Before everything happened, I never thought about how dangerous driving can be. Driving is a normal part of days that many people forget how much responsibility it actually takes. We tend to forget how one small mistake can change our or someone's life forever. Getting distracted, making an emotional decision, or a reckless action can put our and other peoples life’s in danger. After this experience I began to notice how many people did not pay attention while driving. text while driving, speed, or get road rage without thinking how serious the consequences can be. Realizing how fast accidents can happen and a lot could be avoided if people made better choices.

As the time passed, I started to think about how important it is to be mentally prepared before driving. A lot of people only focus on things like drinking and driving, and while these are really important, emotions can also affect someone's behavior while driving. Stress, sadness, anger,anxiety, and frustration can distract people just as much as a phone. When a person is overwhelmed with emotions, they may stop paying attention to their surroundings and focus more on what is going on in their head which can cause them to lose focus while driving or making a reckless decision that can cause an accident. Driving while emotionally unstable can be just as dangerous because a person can react aggressively, ignore safety signs, and lose focus. Often, people underestimate how much someone’s mental state can affect their driving, accidents can happen within one second when someone is not thinking clearly.

After all of this happened , all I could do was look and see that the emergency bags had exploded and the shattered glass was all over the floor while we were trying to understand what just happened. People were getting out of their cars  to see if we were okay. A sister from church  came out of her car to see what happened and was surprised to see it was us. She immediately called the cops and ambulance. While help arrived everything felt like a dream so unreal. We could hear the sirens approaching and were still inside the car, with our mom checking we were okay and along with the pastor's wife from church that was taking us home after church service. Once the police and paramedics arrived, we were getting checked by the paramedics while the police spoke to the man who crashed into us. He admitted that he just had an argument with his wife and felt like hurting somebody. Hearing that shocked all us because due to his actions many innocent people could’ve lost their lives.  Hearing this showed me how dangerous driving can be when someone is mentally unstable.

Now I look at road safety differently. Small choices that people choose to ignore everyday can change lives forever. slowing down, not texting while driving, wearing our seatbelts, and choosing not to drive when we get bad news or had a really bad day and are upset may seem simple. But these matter more than people think. Many people tend to overlook how important mental health is when it comes to driving. A person who is overwhelmed with their emotions is not going to react the same way as someone who is. which can put themselves  and others in dangerous situations. Taking a few minute breaks and deep breaths can prevent a horrible accident from happening.

All of this changed the way I think. I learned that driving is not only about knowing the answer on the test and learning how to drive. It is about knowing that every choice we make counts and it doesn't just affect us but everyone around us. But we can learn how to be more responsible by being aware of our surroundings, not drinking while driving, not texting while driving, not ignoring the road rules and signs, and not being controlled by our emotions. Getting educated on road safety and the serious consequences of not following the road rules can be, even from something that may seem small like not wearing our seatbelts. Our responsibilities as drivers are not only towards ourselves and the people in our car,  but people around us too. After this accident, I realized that getting into a car accident causes not  only physical  but emotional damage as well after seeing how myself,family, and friends got hurt. Now I pay more attention to the choices being made around me and my loved ones  because I'm aware of how fast accidents can happen and how there is no time to fix any mistakes.