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Each year we spend driving on the roads, we are more likely to be victims of a car accident at some point, that is, it is possible that there is an increase in the probability of having a road accident with each year of license we have. At the same time, the more time we spend driving, the more we will be exposed to it.
While it’s true that the number of years on a driver’s license and the fact that you spend more hours in the car are two factors that, by all probability, leave us exposed to being victims of a traffic accident, they aren’t the only ones. Inexperience, slow reflexes and lack of patience can figure as other factors.
In any case, we want to emphasize the importance of being aware of the seriousness of dangerous driving. This is as much for the damage we can do to ourselves as for the damage we can do to others.
The Car Accident That Changed Our Lives
For people who have been through a car accident, this day, which is etched in their retinas, marks a before and an after in their lives, either because they experienced this moment firsthand or because they were a witness.
“One day you get up and nothing ever goes back to being the same. It happened. You were the victim of a traffic accident. Whether you are a driver or a passenger, there is no way back: your life has changed. You wake up in a hospital not knowing for sure what’s going on and what will happen from then on, not being able to understand why it happened to you and why it happened that way, having to live with the consequences…”
An accident can become a traumatic situation.
Being the victim of a serious car accident can negatively impact our health and well-being, both physical and psychological. We are no longer talking only about the person who went through this, but also about the closest family members, who need to assume what is happening.
There is a process of mourning in which we have to say goodbye to the life we had been leading until then, to adapt to a new life with possible limitations.
The change and grief processes take time and we will possibly go through different phases, among which are denial and sadness about what is happening. It is likely that, at times, we do not feel the echo of how some of our dreams were shattered, the impossibility of resuming some of our habits.
It is not strange to feel millions of sensations and emotions, as we are going through a traumatic situation.
We need to take into account that, in order to overcome grief and the traumatic situation, it is common for the person to go through a series of steps to get back to a point of balance in which they feel good. In turn, we must not forget that each of us has a personal way of living this moment and needs to go through an individual process.
Distractions behind the wheel
According to the Statistical Service of the National Traffic Safety Observatory of the government of Spain, in 2017, 102,333 people involved in traffic accidents were registered, including in that number hospitalized injuries, deceased injuries, pedestrians crossing the street, passengers in driven cars by other people, wounded not hospitalized…
In turn, the DGT (General Directorate of Traffic, an agency of the Spanish government) claims that 30% of distractions at the wheel were due to cell phone use.
Thoughts such as “This won’t happen to me” are common, “I drive well, it doesn’t have to happen”, “It’s okay to look at my cell phone for a second”, “I have control and nothing will happen if I look at it I take a second to pick up my cell phone”… In a way, it may be that people who have this opinion are right, it may be that nothing happens and they arrive at their destination safe and sound.
But what will happen if that second turns into a terrible mistake? What if that second becomes the fateful moment when the car accident occurs that changes your life or the life of someone else next to you?
We must remember that at the wheel, it is critical to have a responsible way, because this is the only way to decrease the likelihood of being a direct or indirect victim of a traffic accident.
The road is a place for everyone and, therefore, it demands responsibility, respecting the norms aimed at users. This is the only way not to cause accidents, so that others do not cause them and we are not involved in them.
