As the week started, my plan was to blog about my skiing trip, and I will at some point, but as I have stated before, what I love about writing blogs is having the ability to write about what is on my mind, something that someone is going to relate to, and maybe, I’ll get lucky enough that what I type and post can help someone. That’s what I really want. I want to say something that lasts and helps.
I got into a car wreck on my way to school on Wednesday morning. No one was hurt and I was the only person involved, but it was a wreck nonetheless. As I type this, I’m still shaken up and sore. I’m sore because hitting a patch of ice and spinning your car into a guardrail isn’t what should happen to your car. Cars are meant to be driven on the pavement when you are on the interstate trying to get to class.
The experience itself was so surreal. I had no idea what to do when my car started to slip and then spin in circles across the interstate. I didn’t know that I shouldn’t try and hit the brakes when your car is heading straight for the guardrail. I didn’t know who I was supposed to call if I wasn’t hurt and didn’t hit anyone yet my car was facing north when I started heading south.
I kept driving to Buckhannon to get to my class and I was thanking God the whole way for keeping me and the rest of the drivers safe when that could have been so much worse. There wasn’t time to think about how much worse it could have been until I got out of class and was walking away how much worse it could have been.
The interstate miraculously cleared as I was spinning out and hitting the guardrail. What could have happened was that I hit multiple cars and got hit by multiple cars before coming to a stop.
No one was hurt or injured. I could have hit a car, and the impact could have killed children or adults or me. Someone could have got a phone call at their house or been in critical condition in the hospital today because I was too bull-headed and focused on getting to class that I didn’t think about how my car doesn’t handle icy conditions well.
My car could have been totaled. I have some cosmetic car issues now along the drivers side from the impact of hitting the guardrail, and now I’ll always remember what can happen (minimally impacting on others, mind you) if I’m not careful and I don’t take safety precautions.
My parents had told me for a long time that I didn’t have any business driving on compromised road conditions, and I normally complied, but I thought that I couldn’t miss any more class because of this stupid snow and the roads didn’t look as bad as they did on Tuesday, so I could just drive carefully and make it to class.
Moral of the story: BE SMART. No matter if we are 18-year-old Freshmen or 24-year-old graduate students, the truth of the matter is that we are not invincible. Our cars are not indestructible machines. We don’t have as much experience driving as we think we do, and it is better that you miss class and stay off the roads opposed to risking your life and the lives of others.
When has a situation given you a wake up call?