Personal Narrative Essay: Secondary Law

Improved Essays
I never thought it could happen to me, until it did. What was supposed to be a normal Saturday evening turned into what I can only imagine would be my mother’s biggest nightmare and would cause me more pain than just a few bruises. Everyone describes moments like these as being slowed down, but for me everything seemed to be going at super speed. I don’t really remember rolling, all I can remember is losing control on the loose gravel and the initial impact of my body being slammed against the driver side door and then watching the dust settle. The little things that I can remember seem almost insignificant looking back on it now: how my rear view mirror was tilted up at an odd angle, how I could not get my key out of the ignition, and how I could not open my door all the way. While I didn’t need the jaws of life to come cut me out of my car, my car was totaled. The first thing I did after getting out of my car was call my mom. …show more content…
South Dakota is one of eighteen states that passed a “Secondary Law” saying that police officers need another reason for pulling someone over before citing an occupant for failing to buckle up. This reason can be anything from having a broken taillight or failing to stop at a stop sign. South Dakota’s law; however, states that the “driver and the front seat passenger must be wearing a seatbelt, that is properly adjusted and fastened, at all times while the vehicle is in forward motion” (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). While many people probably do not sit down and read all of the laws of their state for fun, television companies and organizations paid for commercials discussing the topic too. There are commercials and roadway signs that have a popular slogan, “Click it or ticket” and “Every trip. Every time. Buckle up.” screaming at the audience in boldface letters. There were even a couple thirty second ads aired during the Super

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Disappointed, disbelief and fear filled my mind as I sat there between the shattered windshield and my steering wheel. I couldn’t stop thinking about what just happened, what did I just do, and did this really just happen to me? My lungs began to tighten up as I began to cry out of fear. Knowing that my parents were back in Arizona and I was there all alone with no family.…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “Call 911!” I heard my aunt yell. Those days, July 31 through August 2, 2014, were interesting days. My laws of life were shown. They are faith, and patience.…

    • 202 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The reasons for doing so are endless, but the main reason that the ad gave was that you should wear their seatbelt because you have a family to live for. The ad showed this by having a family interlock their arms…

    • 1451 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My mom’s leg had been broken, my sister had internal damage to her liver, and the lap belt had cut me open. The cut required seven stitches on the inside and eight stitches on the outside. After the wreck we were told how the seat belts and appropriate car seats had saved our lives. If my mom had not been wearing her seatbelt, the impact would have sent her through the front windshield. The backseat of the car had somehow come unattached.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Throughout the Fall 2016 semester, I visited several different courts uptown for my American Criminal Courts class. When I saw this assignment on the syllabus, I was very eager to complete it because I wanted expand my knowledge in the court system and how it works. I had previously observed in a courtroom for my Civics and Economics class in high school, but it was very basic. I went to the courthouse afterhours and completed a mock trial with other peers. Even though it was basic, I still had a lot of fun pretending I was on a jury and seeing the simple set up of a trial.…

    • 2330 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    By then he was going 10-15 miles per hour! I slipped, fell off, hit my head on the concrete, and I broke my wrist. I went blank. I had no idea what just happened, how long I was on the car, and I did not know where I was doing or where I was at. I remember me telling people to call 911 because I knew something was wrong.…

    • 676 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    State Track and Field Around this time last year, my brother, his 4x100 relay team, and hundreds of other athletes competed in Jefferson City, Missouri at the state track meet. The meet lasted for two days and those two days were completely opposite of each other. The first day was rainy and cloudy, there wasn’t many people there, and there wasn’t much excitement. The second day was nothing even comparable to that. It was sunny and hot, there were hundreds and hundreds of people there, and the stadium was filled with sounds of people yelling.…

    • 525 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Personal Narrative Essay

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages

    On 06/01/2018 at approximately 1654 hrs. , I responded to the 100 blk of S Main St in reference to a drunk male without a shirt on harassing people walking while being aggressive. The caller advised the male also cornered two young women of the street and was harassing people in their vehicles. I made contact with the male without a shirt on and identified him as Boyd Douglas Wagner, W/M, DOB 06/23/1975. Wagner had a strong odor of intoxicants coming from his person.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Week one DB -1 The experience that I had with the law is limited. Personally, I was not a part of a lawsuit. However, six years ago, I took a part-time job in Adult Day Care Center (ADCC). I was the director and the nurse.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Personal Narrative Essay

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Arrived at 6:30. Explored the lexis nexus website. I began warming up and stretching. At 7:00, I joined to Pirl, Doyle, and Duck in the fish bowl hallway. PT started at 7:15.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Personal Narrative Essay

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    THE DEFENDANT, Xing, Ru Li, by and through her undersigned counsel, June Zhou moves this Honorable Court to order the return of the Defendant’s property, and as grounds therefore, would show the following: 1. I am a legal resident of the United States and have a valid FL massage license. (EXHIBIT A). 2.…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Law-Personal Narrative

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages

    My lawyer was a bad one. Or maybe the problem was that he was bribed out of our deal at the last crucial minute, because, lo and behold, he did not deliver. If you care to believe me, I did nothing wrong.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Hero has no specific shape or size. There is no blue print, no design pattern, or even a book for a hero to follow. A Hero is just an ordinary person who does an extraordinary task. We may all have a different idea of what a hero might be, or what a hero might do and what defines a hero. Debi Mazar defines a hero as, "Somebody who is selfless, who is generous in spirit, who just tries to give back as much as possible and help people.…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I thought she would reverse the car just a little, because I saw that she got too close to the other vehicle. Since she didn’t reverse the truck, we ended up crashing into the parked car. My brother and I got off the truck to see if anything serious happened, then my mom reversed a little and we saw that half of our bumper was all smashed up. Including the Tacoma’s rear bumper, it was smashed in; even the paint came from both trucks. My mom said she wasn’t feeling anything weird, because she crashed.…

    • 733 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I had been flung out from the driver 's seat to the edge of the road; the last thing I remember was feeling my back hit the ground like a ton of…

    • 1029 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays