High school graduations and summer break are fast approaching, and I would like to take this opportunity to bring awareness to the dangers of car surfing. Many parents do not understand or know about car surfing, like myself, until I found out the hard way. Car surfing is when a person rides on the outside of a car, either on the trunk, hood, or other location, while the vehicle is in motion. It doesn’t matter how fast the vehicle is going; the whole concept is deadly.
On May 6, my 17-year-old daughter, a senior at Reid Ross Classical School in Fayetteville, was car surfing along with some friends and lost her grip and was thrown off. We are not sure how fast the student was driving, however, it was fast enough to cause a collapsed lung, broken collar bone, three staples in her head, broken tibia and torn muscles in her knee, not to mention a road rash across her back and scars on her face, wrist, ankle and feet.
She’s now been transferred to in-patient rehabilitation at Cape Fear Medical Center. The doctor said that she is fortunate to be alive. Every night since that day, it haunts me to think that we almost had to plan for a funeral instead of graduation.
Car surfing seems to be something the kids are doing now, and are unaware of the consequences. As a parent, never in a million years would I think my daughter, my princess, would do something this dangerous. Now that it’s starting to get warm, I want parents to keep an eye out for warning signs like dents in the car fender and hood. When I saw them on my daughter’s care, I asked her what happened, and she said she was taking pictures sitting on the car. Being naïve and trusting her, I thought nothing of it. Please don’t be naive like me and ask questions.
If I can save someone’s child, I did my job as a mother and human being. All I’m asking is, please talk to your children and warn them on the dangers of car surfing. Thank you so much.
Ar’Triel A Kirchner
Spring Lake