By Chandler Gallant

This happened to me
It was a chilly fall afternoon in early October. I had just finished my club soccer game and
began to drive home on I-66. I had my mom in the car with me while we were stuck in
stop-and-go traffic for 30 minutes. While starting to speed up, the car in front of me slammed on
its brakes. I had enough room to calmly break without hitting the car in front of me. Yet, it was not the
same for the person behind me. He was towing a big trailer that was holding ATVs and
motorcycles in the back. He crashed into my car which caused my mom and me to hit our heads
on the dashboard and steering wheel. We had to pull off on the side of the highway and
exchange information.

Due to hitting my head on the steering wheel, I got severe whiplash and
had to go to the hospital to be checked out in case of a spinal cord injury and a minor
concussion. While exchanging our information on the side of the highway, my mom noticed that
the gentlemen that crashed into us lived 3 streets away from us. We started talking while we
were waiting for the police to arrive which took forever and the guy said that his sons, that are
my brothers’ age, do dirt bike racing out in Gainesville. He was on his way back from a race and
proceeded to tell us where they race and everything. We found out that he has a dirt bike race
track in his backyard.

After the accident, my truck had damage to the back bumper and bed of
the truck. The bed of my truck was shifted off-center, and I was worried that it would be
totaled. I had to take it to the Ford dealership to have them look at it and see what the cost was
to repair it. Luckily, the guy was found guilty, and he had to pay for all the repairs to my truck
which ended up costing a lot of money, but it was not totaled.

My story is not unique
Sadly, this experience is not unique because it is common to get into
accidents. I found it interesting that I was 20 minutes away from my house and that the person that
crashed into me lived 3 streets away. Luckily, we had no serious injuries, but some accidents are a lot more serious. It is more likely to experience a car crash when you are less than 5 minutes away from your house. That is
because you are more comfortable with those roads, and you do not truly focus on
driving during that time since you drive those roads every day.

Non-Profit Organization
There is a non-profit organization called “Call the Accident Guys.” This organization helps
people who have been in serious car accidents, as well as their families. They help with car repair, help support those affected by the accident, and help with the medical costs. Best of all, they are just an
organization that is there to support you and make sure that you are okay and not stressed. I
personally wish I knew about this organization when I was going through my accident
because I was really scared of driving for a while and refused to take the highway.
You can help by going to the website. (1) You can learn more information about this organization and see how
you can get involved and how they can help you or your community.
Getting involved with this organization is very beneficial because you will meet new people and
be able to help all people all around the world.

References

1. Victims’ fund. THE ACCIDENT GUYS. (2022, February 9). Retrieved September 18, 2022,
   from
   https://calltheaccidentguys.com/victims-fund#:~:text=As%20a%20result%2C%20The%20Acc
   ident%20Guys%20created%20a,the%20at-fault%20party%20was%20not%20insured%20or
   %20underinsured.