A few Fridays ago, my mom and I left our home and drove three hours north to Atlanta to visit family. When we got pretty close to Atlanta, I started seeing digital roads signs that read, “GA ROADWAY FATALITIES THIS YEAR: 544.” My initial thought: Four of those fatalities were the girls that died from my school in April. We continued on to our destination and enjoyed our weekend.

We came home that Sunday. On the way home I noticed the signs again. GA ROADWAY FATALITIES THIS YEAR: 548. In two short days, four more people had died in Georgia from a car accident. Four in just two days.

I turned 16 on January 28th, 2013, I got my driver’s license on January 31st, and I totaled my car on February 3rd. I was driving a Nissan Sentra down a curvy back road going about 70 MPH in a 55. I was texting, and I looked down for too long. The road curved to the right and I realized that I was about to go off of the left side of the road. I overcorrected by yanking my steering wheel to the right and stomping on the breaks. I skidded on the road so much that I ended up facing the complete opposite direction, facing where I had just come from. My car went off the edge of the right side of the road and flipped. It ended up with the driver’s side on the ground, leaving me laying against my car door.

An ambulance and the police arrived quickly after, and I was checked out by a paramedic. I was bumped and bruised, but there was no major damage. I was extremely shaken up and hadn’t stopped crying since I realized what had actually happened; a lot of that day is still so blurry. One thing that isn’t blurry is a police officer approaching me to get my statement. I explained what happened, and his next words were, “Were you wearing your seatbelt?”

“Yes sir, I was wearing my seatbelt.”

“I know you were. If you had gone off the side of the road like that without wearing a seatbelt, you would’ve been underneath your car. You would’ve been dead. You’re a very lucky young lady.”

I don’t text and drive anymore. I don’t speed. I have worn my seatbelt every day since then.

I’m sure everyone has seen the Buckle Up, It’s The Law signs. The truth is, buckling your seatbelt is so much more than just the law. Wearing your seatbelt is that moment when you get to park your car in the school parking lot for the first time. Wearing your seatbelt is being able to attend your high school proms and football games, and your mama crying when you get your diploma instead of crying over your casket. Wearing your seatbelt is getting to become the person you’d hoped you’d be when you were young. Wearing your seatbelt is getting to grow old with the person you love, instead of leaving this world much too young. Wearing your seatbelt means getting to walk your child into Kindergarten, and then attend their wedding years later. Wearing your seatbelt doesn’t mean a guaranteed life, but in the event of a car accident, it raises your chances of living by a little over 50 percent.

Do yourself and your loved ones a favor. It takes two seconds to buckle a seatbelt. It takes the same amount of time to lose your life to something so preventable.