Lesson 17

In this lesson you will:

read a story about a car accident
discuss the issue of car accidents
among teenagers
learn about ways to avoid car accidents
fill in a chart, answer questions, learn
new words connected with driving and
road safety.

Josey from Minnesota tells her story

Part One
In the spring of 1998, I was in a car
accident where I was going too fast on a
gravel road and ended up wrapping my car
around a telephone pole. I was told that I
slid sideways down the road for a bit
. before hitting the telephone pole
gravel road - ( ), slid ,
sideway , hitting , pole

In the sentence below, Josey described the

way that the accident happened.
I slid sideways down the road for
a bit before hitting the telephone pole.
Question no.1
Josey first __________ and then she
______ the telephone pole.

hit / for a bit / slid sideways / down the

road

Part Two
The pole was right underneath my back
when the car finally stopped and the cars
steering wheel was jammed up against
my stomach. I don't remember any of it,
but I was lucky that I was driving with my
.seat reclined a little
steering wheel

stomach

reclined

Question No.2
Why did Josey write, but I was
lucky that I was driving with my
.seat reclined a little

Question No.2
Why did Josey write, but I was lucky that I
.was driving with my seat reclined a little
The car stopped moving on the pole (1
The cars steering wheel jammed up( 2
against the seat
When she drove her seat was reclined a ( 3
.little
The pole was right underneath her back ( 4

Part Three
The steering wheel missed both of my
legs. My seat back broke backwards so I
avoided crushing my head on the ceiling
which fell down. The drivers side was
facing up towards the sky. At this point I
wriggled out of my seat and pushed myself
off the ceiling. I fell out of the back
passenger window onto the ground.
wriggled - ,
pushed off -

crushing ceiling -

passenger

Put the sentences which describe the damage to

the car, one after the other, in the order they
. happened
First, the steering wheel missed both of my legs.
Next, my seat back broke backwards so I
avoided crushing my head on the ceiling, which
then fell down. Finally, the drivers side fell so it
.was facing up towards the sky
.The drivers side was facing up towards the sky. 1
The ceiling fell down. 2
The seat back broke backwards. 3

Exercise
Choose the correct words from those in
.brackets
Josey (pushed herself off / jammed
herself) the ceiling, ( reclined / wriggled)
out of the (drivers / passengers)
.window and fell to the ground

Part Four
To make a long story short, people who
passed by and saw my accident called
an ambulance and I was brought to a
nearby hospital. The doctors decided to
fly me to the main County Medical
Center. All this happened on a Thursday
night, on my way home from watching
.the Jr. High Band concert
to fly me , nearby

Josey was transferred from the

nearby hospital to a County
Medical Center because
she was badly hurt.
she was in a life-threatening situation.
it was closer to her home.
the doctors thought that she needed
special treatment.

Part Five
In the hospital they found out that I had
six broken ribs, five broken vertebrae, a
badly sprained ankle, a cut up tongue,
needed stitches in my elbow, chest tubes
in each lung, and various other things
ribs cut up tongue
vertebrae stitches -
sprained ankle elbow
chest tubes
each lung

Exercise
Make a list of Joseys body parts that
were injured in the accident.
1_______________________________
2 _______________________________
3 _______________________________
4 _______________________________

Part Six
I was lucky! After stabilizing me, I was not
in a life threatening situation. I stayed in
the hospital only (ONLY!) 10 days.

stabilizing -
luck -
life-threatening

Josey learned a lesson from the accident:

.
Something that I've learned
from this: Don't speed,
.
especially on a gravel road
and always wear your seatbelt !!!
IT IS worth it !!!

seatbelt

speed -

Accidental Statistics
Statistics show that young drivers
are involved in more road traffic
accidents than any other age group.
1999 Statistics
Car Accidents in the United States
There were an estimated 3,200,000 people
injured in car accidents in 1999.
About 41,345 people lost their lives in
traffic accidents in 1999.

Reasons for car accidents by young

:drivers
1( Careless driving
2( Not being patient
3( Not being prepared for the unexpected
4( Politeness
5( Obeying traffic rules

Teenagers involved in car accidents

Car accidents are the leading cause
of death among teenagers in the
United States, accounting for 36% of all
deaths of persons aged 15 to 19 years.
The fatal crash rate per million miles for
16-year-old drivers is more than 7 times
the rate for drivers aged 30 to 59 years.

Lets go into a site dealing with

teenagers involved in car accidents
and see some pictures of accidents.
http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/car_accident_pi
ctures_3.html

Go to this site and see

The causes for car accidents

http://hhs.suhsd.k12.ca.us/~albennet/Page_2x.html

Questions:
1) What are the five most important
reasons for car accidents?
Alcohol
Speed
Fatigue
Inexperience
Road Rage

Causes for car accidents

and their consequences

Speed kills!!! It
limits the ability to react according
to the conditions of the road.
takes away the ability to control
the steering wheel and
thus to control the car
causes severe injuries and death.

You need to stay focused

when you are behind the wheel.

Do not drive
if you are not able to
estimate the condition of the road,
especially when an unexpected
situation occurs.
drive according the traffic laws.

DRINKING
KEEPS YOU FROM

THINKING!
You are not able to think clearly
Your reactions are too slow.
You lose control of the car.
Your eye sight becomes blurred

Fatigue and driving dont mix

Fatigue causes fatalities
Fatigue makes you fall asleep
Fatigue makes you unable to control
the car
Fatigue makes you unable to
think clearly

Road Rage causes

violent behavior
irrational behavior
the loss of control of the car

Write the reasons for

road rage according to
your order of priorities

In this lesson we
read a story about a car accident.
learned new words connected
with road accidents.
learned about the main reasons
for car accidents.
discussed ways to avoid car
accidents.
answered questions and quizzes.