Have you ever heard your elders mention in passing that "kids these days think they're invincible?" I never fully understood that; of course we know we aren't invincible. We are capable of feeling so much pain, be it physical or emotional. As young adults, we are no strangers to heartbreak and sadness, and only Superman feels no injury. But it wasn't until recently that I realized the phrase we scoff at really is true: kids these days always think it won't happen to them. Sure, that's broad. "It" can describe just about everything. But specifically, I mean vehicular accidents

The deadliest killer in our day and age for young adults is a car accident. Most that we see aren't so bad. Bumps and bruises to both the driver and the vehicle. But tens of thousands of teenage drivers in the United States die each year from car crashes. A motor vehicle is a large, dangerous piece of equipment that every teen longs to be in control of, and, once they are given permission, forget the consequences of abusing. But sure, it won't happen to me.

Personally, I never really believed in that mentality. I'm nearly 20 and a newly-licensed driver, and getting behind the wheel of my Nissan Pathfinder still scares me every time. But the other day, I overheard a conversation between my coworkers:

"I can't wait for the winter, I'm going to drift so hard I'll probably die."
"Dude no, you won't get hurt doing tricks!"

"Won't get hurt doing tricks?" So many people get into car accidents out of pure human error, such as forgetting your right-of-way at a four-way stop. Simple misjudgments can happen to anybody. But if you're purposely driving like a maniac, what makes you so sure that you're going to come out alive, much less unscathed?

Recently, the Capital Region has seen its share of fatal accidents, but the one making top headlines as of late involves a young man and his motorcycle. Popping a wheelie on the underpass, he drifted into the lane of oncoming traffic. He was a young adult, and as in most situations, the loss of a life came much too soon. The community is taken aback by what has happened. Though I did not personally know this young man, he did attend school with my closest friend, meaning I had seen him perform in the 5th grade spring show, or just around in general. I'm not one to talk about loss very freely, but our paths had briefly crossed; why had his ended so soon?

How long will it be until the path that ends is near to you? How can one put themselves in such danger, with the false pretense that nothing bad can ever happen? Sometimes accidents just truly happen; why put even more risk into a situation? Don't operate cars unsafely. Your car is made of steel; you are not.