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Chaffin Luhana Anti-Distracted Driving Scholarship

Distracted driving seems to take more and more lives as time goes by. A study conduct by CDC Injury Center shows that eight people are killed by distracted drivers a day.  The main source of distraction was the drivers cell phone. People are so attached to their cell phones that they can not put it down even when they are driving. When texting and driving they put not only themselves at risk but as well as the other drivers on the road as well.

My family and I have had a personal experience with distracted driving that almost took our life. I was around twelve years old when the accident happened. It was a day just like any other day. My family and I went through our regular morning routines to get ready for school. We all loaded up in the car and headed off to school. Little did I know that this car ride would be one that I would not forget.  Where I live we always take the back roads because it is a shorter distance to my school than taking the highway. We were about five minutes away from the school on a long stretch of the road, when we see another car coming in the opposite direction. At the time we thought nothing about it and thought it was just another car going to pass. My twin brother was in the front and two sisters and I were in the back while my mom was driving. My siblings and I were on our phones not really paying attention when my mom says out loud, “What the hell are they doing?” that moment we all looked up at the road. That is when I saw a silver car who had swerved into our lane. At that moment everything seemed to slow down. A wave of shock went through my entire body. Adrenaline started to pump through me. I remember thinking to my self  “ Is this really happening, or is it just a dream?” whether or not I was fully aware my instincts kicked in. I reached across and put my arm across my sisters in some hope that would brace them from what was about to be an abrasive impact. I heard my whole family scream as they saw what was about to happen. My mother steered into the ditch but the silver car was still approaching fast toward us. The silver car seemed to becoming straight for the drivers side at this point. My mom grabbed the steering wheel and jerked to the right as the silver car rammed into the drivers side skimming along our car going at least fifty MPH. The impact pushed our car and flung us even more into the ditch. My mothers foot was glued to the breaks until we came to a complete stop. She looked back and a wave of relief came over her face when she saw we were all still safe.

The police cars showed up and took our story’s on what we saw and what happened. My mothers car was the missing the two doors on the drivers side. We met the woman who was in the opposing car that hit us. She admitted that she was sending a text and did not notice she was drifting into our lane. By the time she did notice and looked up it was already too late. Luckily in my experience nobody got hurt but each year thousands of others do not get to say the same. After processing the realization that my life could of ended that day I realized that sending a text should not be worth risking your life or any distraction for that matter. To this day if I am in a car and the driver pulls out their phone or start messing with the radio,  I demand them to stop and focus on the road because they are not only responsible for their life but as well as mine as well. I hope to anybody out there that you do not have to go through a traumatic car crash to have the realization that no distraction is worth your life.