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Rant & Rave
IN March of 1998, I got my license. It was great, the best feeling in the world! Out of all my friends, I was the first to get my license. Of course, I was still only a teen-ager, but I thought I was just a "pro" at driving and would never get into an accident. A fun ride could
have been deadlyAbout four months later, I got into the worst accident of my life. I also endangered others' lives, which made the situation worse.
On that bright summer morning, my friend Julia and I decided go to the Koko Head Stables and visit our horses. I drove over to her house to pick her up, then we decided to go to Taco Bell to get something to eat first. We didn't want to eat there, so we got into the car again and headed to Sandy Beach.
En route to Sandy's, we passed Julia's house again and she wanted to stop to grab a different pair of shoes.
At the same time, we spotted our friends Sharena and Mike leaving his house, which is about a half minute away from Julia's house. They fell behind my car and followed us all the way to Sandy Beach.
I had to take a left turn to get into Sandy's, so I stopped to wait until it was clear to turn. But instead of focusing my attention on the approaching cars, I kept looking into my rearview mirror at Mike and Sharena.
So without paying attention to the road in front of me, I turned. Suddenly, Julia was screaming, and thinking I was about to run over something in front of me, I slammed the brakes. That's when I heard and saw a van colliding right into my mini van's side door.
I looked into my rearview mirror just in time to see my dog, which was in the back seat, fly from one side of the van to the other. It all seemed like a bad dream to me. I ran out of the van crying and screaming that it was all just a bad dream, a nightmare. I was going to wake up soon and everything was going to be OK. But it wasn't.
THE next thing I knew, there were cops all around, and the person who hit me was yelling and screaming about how stupid I was and why was I not paying attention to the road.
While all of this was going on, all I could think about was that last moment when I was looking into the rearview mirror before making that horrible left turn.
After my accident, I was too terrified to drive, but my parents were understanding. They encouraged me to start driving after my accident. The whole theory of "falling off a horse and getting back on" is what they wanted me to do.
I guess their advice helped because if I hadn't gotten behind the wheel of a car immediately, I probably would not have done so for a long time.
Of course my parents were disappointed in me, but they told me that I was very lucky that no one got hurt, and that I should be more careful. People make mistakes, but also can learn from them.
Since that day, I have become a lot more aware of the way I am driving and the things that go on around me. I realize that driving is not all about fun and freedom, but responsibility, especially when there are others in the car with me, whose lives are in my hands.
That summer I was lucky. No one was hurt but I had an awakening. I have slowly regained the confidence of my friends, their parents and even myself. I don't blame anyone for mistrusting me after that.
I have become a better driver because of the experience, but I just regret having had to go through such a horrible, horrible accident to learn a lesson I should have taken seriously from the start.
Ghazal Yousseti is a senior at Kaiser High School. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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