I’m a paramedic and I get so angry about how people drive because I’ve seen first hand the results. When you drive past a crash scene you don’t really know what’s going on there. But when you work inside of that scene you know. I vividly remember many of the accidents I’ve run on. Seeing peoples bodies split open with brain matter or intestines basically flowing out of them. Limbs so mangled that they’ve become tiny chips of bone mixed in with their muscles. People screaming as they burn to death while we try frantically to put the fire out. And the worst is telling parents that their children have died. That’s a level of anguish that the world was never intended to witness.

The one I remember most was a car that got hit by a speeding driver who was texting and who ran a red light. It flipped the car upside down and under a parked truck and trailer. Absolutely mangled the car and trapped a 6-9 month old in the back seat. There were like 10 of us working on this car. We worked frantically to cut it apart as the baby’s cry got weaker and weaker and then stopped. By the time we could cut away enough metal and debris it was too late. If I could take every single driver into that scene with me and force them to watch that I would.

Slow down. Pay attention. Be patient and courteous. You’re not the most important person on the road. And you’re not nearly as good a driver as you think you are. Please, I’m begging you.