I did a speech at the club recently about a car accident which my nephew and his wife were involved in. When I asked for a show of hands of how many people in the audience have been in a car accident, everyone’s hand went up. There were thirty people in the audience. It just goes to prove my point that sooner or later EVERYONE will be in a car accident.
Here is the speech below – I’m hoping it might save one life.
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I got a call from my brother Tony last Sunday,
he said, Tom I’ve got some bad news for you.
Preston and Rachel, that’s my brother’s son and his new wife, just 22 years old
Preston and Rachel, were driving back from a wedding in Missouri, and we’re in a bad car accident –
the car rolled over twice, they were thrown from the car – they’re both dead.
That’s the call from my brother last Sunday.
I could have very easily received
What he actually said was this –
Tom, I’ve got some bad news for you.
Preston and Rachel, were driving back from a wedding in Missouri, and we’re in a bad car accident –
the car rolled over twice, but they’re okay, they were wearing their seat belts.
I came this close to going to two funerals for two very young dear people.
Preston and Rachel cheated death, by something that takes just two seconds, – clicking their seat belts.
Out of this accident I have come up with one simple rule that we all need to follow and that may save your life some day,
Always, always, always, always, always,always, always,always, always,always, always,
Wear Your Seatbelt.
Let me ask a question – how many people here have been involved in a car accident? litte one big one? (Note – everyone raised their hand. 30 people)
My observation about 50 years of driving is this –
– if you drive long enough, or you drive enough miles,
sooner or late you will be involved in a car accident.
It may be just a fender bender in a parking lot or it may be a horrendous accident at 70 mph, but sooner or later YOU WILL BE in a car accident.
The main question you want to answer is this –
do I want to be able to walk away from the accident
or do I want to be taken away in a body bag.
I know that there’s probably at least one person in the audience who doesn’t wear their seat belt and they might be thinking – well you know, I’ve got air bags – they’ll protect me in an accident.
Prestons car had air bags, but their air bags didn’t deploy.
they could have very easily been thrown from the car and killed.
The second lesson to learn from this accident is this:
You always need a Plan B. You always need an escape plan.
How do I react if something bad happens?
You know in the movies like Mission Impossible – when Plan A gets thwarted and things get dicecy – what do they always say – “Go to Plan B”
That’s what you need to have planned for yourself when you drive.
Let me tell you how Preston’s accident happened.
He was driving on a pretty good road – and had two lanes on his side.
and he was in the right hand lane.
Another driver, right next to him cut into his lane and Preston had to make a split second decision.
Do I let this guy hit me or do I react and get out of his way.
Preston chose to get out of his way
He went so far to the right that he passed over the road shoulder and down a into a ditch and flipped over twice. The other car probably didn’t even realize what happened.
Other than going into a ditch – what else could Preston have done?
– He could have honked.
– He could have let the car hit him.
– He could have gone onto the shoulder – there was plenty of room.
– He could have slowed down to let the car pass him more quickly.
You always need a Plan B if possible.
There’s a corollary to always having a Plan B – and it’s this.
If possible – don’t put yourself into a dangerous position – so you won’t need to activate Plan B.
Let me give you an example of some rules I follow.
– Try not to be in the blind side of any driver
– Always try and have at least a 2 second margin between you and the car in front of you.
– Stay away from trucks
– Drive the speed limit
– When you see a bunch of red lights on cars up ahead – slow down
Let me sum it all up this way.
1. Always, always, always, wear your seat belt.
2. Always try and have a Plan B – an escape route if things go bad.
3. Don’t put yourself in a dangerous position if at all possible.
Fellow Toastmasters and guests –
In a speech – you always want a great closing.
Here’s the best closing I can think of.
Preston and Rachel are alive today – because they wore their seat belts.
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