RoadsLider
By Shanna, age 18, California
Imagine driving ... no music on, phone on Bluetooth in the car ... a nice long drive from your house to work. You come upon a busy street. As you come to a stop you check the oncoming traffic. You turn, like any other driver would do, and suddenly you see a flash of blue, yellow, and red. Your phone flies out the window and your head is caught in the space between the roof and steering wheel. Your neck is pressed against the steering wheel, causing you to barely breathe, and your car comes to an abrupt stop.
As you open your eyes and snap back into reality you realize you have been hit by a car. This was me a couple of weeks ago. I have been injured ever since, leaving me with bruises, broken molars, and a hurt neck. I was on my daily drive to work to pay for the car I had received as a present for my 18th birthday. Now it had been wrecked within two weeks. Consciously I pulled my head from that little space, turned my car off, and stepped out of the car to see a young pale Caucasian girl who was apparently shaken.
Never have I been the type to judge or be racist, but the area I was in was predominantly Caucasian and I knew something bad was going to happen to me. Scared, I remained strong and tried to keep my cool, as any tears can show my weakness. As I walked over towards the girl she threw me an instant glare with tears in her eyes. Bad thoughts clouded my mind and I felt threatened. I wanted to attack her and make this go away, but I knew that would not solve anything.
The next thing I knew police surrounded our scene and arrested me. Confused, I surrendered. I was thrown to the ground and an elbow was placed at the center of my back, while another cop grabbed my hands and threw them in cuffs, while a foot stepped on my neck which was already killing me. I cried. I gave up. I glanced upward and saw my boyfriend and mother who had raced to the scene. The police escorted me to their car and put me in the back seat, read me my Miranda rights, and told me to wait for questioning.
Luckily I had witnesses who were my friends who saw the whole accident, but the police didn't bother to acknowledge them. Finally they released me from the car. They blamed the accident on me, gave me two tickets, and tried to tow my car, but my mom wouldn't let them. My keys were taken from me, and even though I'm still paying the note, I was kicked off our insurance policy, forcing me to pay the damages for both cars, which totaled $10,000 cash. I missed work and was suspended for two weeks. I'm back on the bus and walking. I have not attended my classes in weeks and missed midterms.
Hopefully this phase of my life works out for the best. Cross your fingers, peeps.
