If you are a Teenager of driving age, whether you have just gotten your learner's permit or even if you have been released to roam the roads by yourself, please indulge me for a moment.
I am tired of having to go see your parents on the worst day of their lives. I am tired of the long drive down strange driveways to knock on the door of the home you've left void. I am tired of making your mom cry while she tells us that she knows you are in Heaven.
I am tired of visiting makeshift memorials by your sobbing friends at the scene of your accident. I am tired of seeing your cars totaled and slathered with blood stains. I am tired of hearing people speculate about what happened to cause this mess.
I am tired of you thinking you are invincible. I am tired of you thinking that it could never happen to you. I am tired of you not repecting the lives of your passengers.
I have covered 10 or more teenager deaths from car accidents in the past 2 years and I'm tired!
I am tired of worrying that my own children could meet this fate in about 6 years.
I am more than happy to use my TV Camera to put you on the news if you do something spectacular at your school. I am more than happy to come to your sporting event. I am more than happy to cover your greatest achievment in life.
BUT, you can bet that if I have to show up on the side of the road where you took your last breath, where your survivors shed a million tears and where your blood will permanently mark my conscious, I will be tired of saying to myself, "Why? Why another needless loss?"
Teenagers, PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY! PLEASE DON'T SPEED! PLEASE DON'T DRIVE BEYOND YOUR CAPABILITIES!
PLEASE STAY ALIVE.
No comments:
Post a Comment