Biggest Fear

There was a seven day period in October where four people were killed in automobile wrecks around my little map dot town.  I only knew of one of the victims.  She was in her late fifties and out to celebrate an aunt's birthday.  Sitting at a stop light a driver would come up behind them - not under the influence, not speeding, and his would pummel the vehicle and leave two passengers dead and two in serious condition.

He wasn't speeding.

But technically - he was.  you can't go 45 in an are where traffic is stopped.  You have to adjust your speed to the environment around you.

Something else had his attention so going the speed limit of roughly 45 and then crashing against an object at rest would forever change his and their lives.

Prior to that event a guy my mother knew would make a horrible decision and get drunk and then drive on the interstate in the incorrect set of lanes for the direction he was going.  He would not only end his life in a wreck but also take anothers life.  A person who was just making their way to where they needed to go.  A person who was doing right.

When I look back at my childhood I can tell you of one moment that sticks out in my brain more than any other.  My mother had to have allergy shots when I was growing up.  At first she could have any nurse friend administer them.  Eventually, she'd have to go to a shot clinic to get them.  One nurse friend had three boys and every Sunday we'd go to her house and she'd administer the shot.  While we waited the fifteen minutes after the shot was given she'd talk about her boys.

One of them had just received his license.  I'll never forget her saying to my mom, "The hardest thing you ever do as a parent is watch them back out of that driveway and leave on their own."

I couldn't agree more.

Back then I didn't realize it - you know the ramifications of being a driver, of being in a car, of being on the road.  But today....its a different story.

When I started driving you didn't have cell phones.  You didn't have calls coming in and texts and social media to take your attention.  You had a steering wheel, gas and brake pedal, and the radio.

My biggest fear is that I'll be driving down the road and someone will be too busy on their phone to see me and hit me and kill or badly injure my children  

My biggest fear is that I'll be on the road after dark and some punk who decided to take a joy ride after drinking too much will ram my car.  This whole scenario hits a little too close to home.  I have no time for a person who takes life so lightly and thinks they are superior and can do no wrong five shots in.

My biggest fear has to do with my airbags deploying, twisted metal, and ambulances and fire trucks.

You learn in Driver's Education that the biggest risk you take on a daily basis is getting into a motor vehicle.  Before that meant nothing but today that means more than you know.

Turn the phones off.

Stop your friends from getting behind the wheel when they've had too much.

Save a life.

It doesn't take too many bells and whistles to be a super hero.  It just takes some common sense.