Greg Lopes- Narrative Essay

A Rainy Day

“Uggh! It’s still raining outside”, I say as I look out the window. I never liked having to sit through an entire day of school when there was bad weather. The muggy weather seemed to make the school day go by so slow. “Come on Elissa, hurry up, I don’t want to be late for school.” My little sister always seems to take forever to get ready in the mornings. It’s a good thing that I woke up before her; otherwise I would have no chance of taking a shower before school. Without wasting any more time I decided to go turn on my car to let it warm up; I really didn’t want to be late for school. I went through the usual process of harassing my sister to hurry up, trying to salvage some chance of getting to school on time. With my patience wearing thin, my sister finally came down stairs, ready to leave for school.

After walking out my front door, my sister and I walked rapidly to my car, trying to minimize the time that we spent in the rain. I went through the usual process as I sat in my car; I buckled my seat belt, checked my mirrors, turned on the radio, and since it was raining I turned on the windshield wipers. I looked around as I backed out of my drive way; the rain had made it a very foggy and muggy day, difficult to see anything more than I few hundred yards away.

I began my journey to school as I pulled my car out onto the main road in front of my house. Most students only have to drive a few minutes to school (in their town), but I went to a regional school that was one town away so on most days it would take me about fifteen minutes to get to school. I knew that the rain would turn my usual fifteen minute commute into twenty or even twenty five minutes. The rainy winter day had left the roads wet and slippery, so I drove slower and more carefully than normal.

After driving for about ten minutes I started to get bored, and the rainy weather was only changing my mood for the worse. So I put in my favorite CD, attempting to make my boring drive at least partially enjoyable. After a few more minutes of driving I came to an area of road that was usually very busy and congested, and I expected the situation to be worse than normal with the bad weather. The road glistened with rain as it began to dip down towards a train bridge underpass. As the road continued to slope down, I could see traffic moving slowly through the underpass, and I began to slow the car down as the underpass got closer. Before I could think I saw a car racing around the corner of a side street that wasn’t any more than fifteen or twenty feet in front of my car. I heard my little sister scream as I slammed on the brakes and honked the horn of my car. The tires of my car screeched as my car slid over the wet road, and the car that was racing around the corner of the sidestreet also slammed on its brakes. It was too late.

Bam! My car was hit directly on the front passenger wheel well, and on the corner of the front bumper. The car was immediately brought to a screeching halt. The sudden stop threw my sister and I forward, but our seatbelts kept us from moving. The dust settled as broken metal, plastic, and glass were distributed on the rain soaked road. I sat in my car my eyes were wide with shock and disbelief, trying to find some understanding for what had just happened. I checked with my sister to make sure that she was alright, and luckily she didn’t even have a scratch. After a few more moments of shock I pulled myself together. I got out of my car and began to assess the damage that less than a minute prior did not exist.

The driver of the other car came over to make sure that my sister and I were ok. He didn’t even try to blame me; instead he immediately starts to apologize for what happened. We exchanged registration and insurance information, and filled out the accident report when the police arrived. All while I was still in a haze of disbelief. My sister and I did make it to school that day, albeit significantly late. My sister, myself, and the other driver involved were all free of injury. Unfortunately the same could not be said for my car which ended up being totaled.

While my life was never in any real danger, my car accident is still one of the most significantly scary events that I have experienced in my life. Being a young driver and still only in high school, I was very shaken by the events of that day. If I were to get in that same car accident now, I would be able to handle myself in a more mature way, and it definitely wouldn’t have such a profound effect on me. While I was never a wreck less driver, my car accident has definitely made me a far safer driver. It helped me to understand how important it is to act responsibly and maturely; especially when doing something as potentially dangerous as driving a car. Today, I have a much greater appreciation for my own safety and the safety of everyone else on the road than I did before my car accident.