My heart and mind have been heavy for the last two weeks. I got myself into a sticky situation, and I could have avoided it. I was home in Charleston for spring break when I ran a red light and caused an accident. This happened three days before I had to be back at FMU.
My friend and I were in the car at a stop light, and an 18-wheeler was in front of us. I followed the 18-wheeler thinking the light was still green. Now, most of you are probably saying, “Trina, you know better.”
I continued to drive, and a red GMC came towards my friend and I. He hit us.
All I could think was, “I had my first accident. Is my best friend all right? Is this man going to be all right? I’m about to miss my doctor’s appointment. Let me hurry up and donate my eggs so I can pay for these damages.” Man, I should have kept my butt still.
After my best friend told me she was fine, we waited for the police officer. He gave me a whopping ticket for $237 for “disregarding a traffic device.” He then told me I had to come to court on Thursday, April 2 to pay it. I asked him how I could get the ticket reduced. He told me that the man driving the GMC had to miss court. He told me, “Sweetheart you can’t drive too close to big trucks like that.”
I hated telling my parents, but I had no choice. My father said some harsh words to me; my mom told me a few things. I had a headache from the time of the accident until I took a nap.
I hated being on the phone with State Farm and my parents trying to find a day for the adjuster to come and check out my car. We never could find a day because I had to get back to school that Sunday. So here I was driving around Florence for two weeks with a dent on the side of my car. I had to turn in all of my class assignments in early because I had to miss two school days just to go to court. Now I may get behind in my classes.
I don’t want you guys to be like me. For a whole week, I had to change my lifestyle just to make sure everything was in order. It was in those five days that I realized it is not fun having a car accident in a city you rarely travel to. I know I live in Charleston, but I spend most of my time in Florence. It was difficult getting things in order between the two cities.
For example, because I had to be in court on a Thursday at 10 a.m., I could not go to any classes that day. So from Monday to Wednesday, I studied harder than usual. I had to make sure I had the right amount of cash. There was no extra spending because I had to put in $35 worth in gas to get to Charleston plus the $237 for the ticket. My next paycheck is going to be slim because I worked fewer hours than usual. I couldn’t start a project for my broadcasting class until the day before it was due because I didn’t trust taking my camera equipment home.
This all goes to show that it’s important to pay attention to what you do while you’re driving, especially if you’re in a city in which you don’t live.