Getting older and finally being able to have a license is a double-edged sword. This feeling of independence can be freeing and riveting, but it can also be scary and stressful. 

Everyone dreads seeing the flashing red and blue lights of a police car appear in their rearview mirror. The possible chance of getting into a car crash is equally as dreadful, if not more. A $5 ticket or a $500 ticket, a tiny baby scratch or a completely totaled car: no matter the intensity of the situation, everyone hopes to avoid these instances at all costs. 

Nonetheless, it is bound to happen to someone at some point. Here are a few real-life examples from some LHS students. The experiences range anywhere from ticket warnings to full on cars crashing into buildings, like this story sent in from a Starbucks barista.

“I was working at the window of the drive through at the Starbucks on 13th and Minnesota when a Jeep Cherokee crashed into our store. The entire car was in our lobby and several customers got hit. But no one died. After that, the store was under renovation for a couple months.” 

Tickets could also be something simple and commonplace. 

“I got hit while driving my mom’s car” or “I went 72 on I-229.” 

Maybe it is just the case of bad luck.

 “I once got two parking tickets on the same day downtown.”

Tickets could quite possibly be something worse that it actually is. 

“Not a ticket but a warning!!!! One weekday night I was going from my work to the gym. It was in the winter so it was very dark but the route I took was fully lit. I make it a block to the gym and I get pulled over. I wasn’t speeding or doing anything else… I was also so scared of how my parents would react so I was literally shaking. Immediately when the cop came to the window I started crying (I am an ugly crier so it was highly embarrassing and dramatic). Come to find out I just needed to turn my headlights on. It takes two clicks to get my headlights on and I only clicked it once. Moral of the story, click your headlights twice.”

The moral of the story is, tickets and car accidents are no fun, drive safe everyone.