However it was totally redone for the speech. /* xyz*/ denote speech instruction
One turn too fast
One error of judgment, one stroke of misfortune, a momentarily loss of control, one turn too fast. And it’s all over!/*Pause 3 sec*/
Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and welcome guests,
Yes it just takes one moment on the road to change everything. Just one turn too fast and it could just as well be the last.
80,000 people die in road accidents in India each year. What does it mean?
……Someone has just now lost a life in a road accident, and before I finish my speech, there would be another death on the road.
Still the horror never hits us. The day we hear about an acquaintance or a close friend being killed or injured in a road accident I am sure most of us slow down a bit. I know because I vividly remember the day in 12th class when a classmate was crushed by a bus while on his scooter. I never knew the guy even remotely but I can assure you that day I just pushed my scooter a little less hard and so did the rest of us.
You could wonder why the moral lecture? What has another death forgotten in the sands of time got to do with you? I say, everything! Because YOU would probably be driving, today or tomorrow. And when you get behind the wheel you ought to know the mortal danger you are in.
‘I rode at 100 km/hr’ /*Pull your collar up while doing it*/said my friend. That’s 28 m/sec! Measure it and try to imagine covering the distance in a second on foot. It’s impossible. And yet we seldom think twice before using the accelerator while driving.
Maybe some of that callousness would disappear if you were to see the results of rash driving first-hand. Because no description can fully describe the horror of being there. The sound of metal twisting, the wails of the wounded , the moans of the barely conscious, the horror of the onlookers and pain that is unimaginable. Of course there are people who can boast about walking away unhurt from the wreckage of vehicles. But they were just lucky. Death was just enjoying being irrational.
Let’s imagine an accident. Someone is driving, and suddenly he collides with another vehicle at high speeds. Maybe it was not his fault. Maybe the other driver was rash and drunk. But maybe he could have gone a little slower.
And now suppose that person is you. /*Very slow */
After that one moment you wake up to find your leg bent at an impossible angle. But you are too confused to realize it’s broken. Maybe your lungs are filling up with blood because of broken ribs. You are literally drowning in your own blood and there is nothing you can do. I wonder if anyone would like a similar scenario,' to wake up from an accident only to realize you are dying'. There are injuries for which doctors can do nothing more than just move on to the next patient who could probably be saved. Also in India, where you would probably be bundled by bystanders in a rickshaw and sent to a hospital which will probably refuse to accept you for the fear of a police case.
Or you could be like my friend who was hit by a truck in the wee hours on a national highway. No one stopped to help and she lay there in a ditch, for over two hours, dying just 200 meters from the comfort of her home on a chilly morning. It turned out to be a beautiful December day. It was just not so bright for her.
Of course initially, because of shock you will not feel any pain. You can stare at your mangled hands with indifference. But then if you can just survive for some time, then the shock will wear out and you will start feeling pain that you never knew was possible. God forbid, if you had been driving recklessly before the accident then at that moment you are lying there hating yourself. You would probably do anything to go back and set it right. But this is life my friend! What’s done can never be undone.
And if you are counting on surviving the accident, don’t forget it could involve anything -from long lonely months of recuperation in a hospital, the guilt of having caused the death of innocents or even leading a crippled life.
Friends, drive safe. There are only two self -evident truths which I know of and they are that mixing drinking with driving kills and helmets save lives. Only a fool can deny these. So drive knowing the risks. Because the problem is not driving but bad driving.
There is a simple reason why I spoke about accidents the way I did. Why I talked about death as if it was just around the corner. Because if you can imagine the pain after a crash or even better see yourself lying unattended on a stretcher still,/*2 sec pause slow*/ very still; ,/*3 sec pause even slower*/ then maybe you will just be a little easy on the accelerator next time.
Over to you Mr. Toastmaster
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