Dear Distracted Driver

Dear distracted driver: The text can wait. The phone call, the make-up, the radio. Whatever it is, I promise--IT CAN WAIT. 

When you are steering a two ton pick-up truck down the highway, there is nothing more important than your safety...and mine. Looking away for five seconds isn't an option. Fortunately, no one was killed...this time.

While you were distracted. your truck veered into my lane, headed right toward us. My heart raced as I laid on my horn. When you didn't change course, I was filled with terror. My four children were, too. We had absolutely nowhere to go. I prayed to God and tried to estimate where you would go next. I did my best to get out of your way...to avoid a head on collision (and, in my mind, certain death). You finally looked up, just as your truck plowed into the side of our car...the very place my 3-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were sitting in their car seats. 

The impact was horrendous--the loudest, scariest sound I've ever heard. As our car spun out of control, I smelled smoke and heard the screams of my children. I felt completely helpless. When our minivan came to a stop, I turned around to check on my babies. I could see the fear in their eyes. Afraid of an explosion, I got them out of the car as quickly as I could. As I unbuckled 3-year-old William and pulled him from his car seat, I noticed blood covering the right side of his face. As I examined each of the children, I thanked God for His protection. Although we were broken, we were alive.

We made it out, but our mangled car was still in the road, with the horn blaring and engine smoking. Terrified that someone would hit the protruding vehicle--or us--we ran down the hill on the side of the road. As the five of us huddled in a ditch, I remember trying to calm my children, saying, "We're okay. We're all okay," over and over and over. We prayed for help and thanked God for sparing our lives. As we waited for help, we also prayed for you. We prayed that God would protect you and keep you safe, and use this tragedy for His glory. 

Help eventually arrived, and we were suddenly surrounded by sirens. Police and paramedics seemed to be everywhere, and traffic was backed up for miles. My husband was there, my children were safe...and I fell to the ground and cried like a baby. I was shaken and hurting, but thankful beyond words. As we picked the glass out of my son's bleeding wounds, I thought of you again. I wondered how you didn't get hurt and how you ended up a quarter mile down the road. I wondered what you were doing and if you had insurance. How you came to be so distracted, I may never know. What I do know is that--whatever it was--it could have waited. 

This time, you were fortunate. WE were fortunate. By the grace of God, we all walked away. If I saw you today, I would hug your neck and say: I forgive you. I forgive you for the terrifying accident. I forgive you for totaling our family car. I forgive you for my 3-year-old's cut-up face, my 5-year old's anxiety, my 7-year-old's nightmares and my 11-year-old's tearfulness. I forgive you for these excruciating headaches, the incessant ache in my neck and the shoulder pain that keeps me awake at night. I forgive you for the medical bills and the loss of wages yet to come. And I forgive you for the thing that caused it all--driving while distracted.

I'm sure you didn't mean for this to happen, and I'm sure you didn't think it would happen to you. I get it. I really do.

Most of us have been distracted at one time or another. We look down at the map, reach in the glove compartment, text a friend or put on lipstick. We only look away for a second. But a second is all it takes. It's amazing how such a little thing can have such devastating effects. Please, all drivers, look at the faces of these precious children (or your own), and say: never again. The next time might be your last.