When I Was 18 By: Tim Maurer

The summer I was 18 years old (1994), I was a punk. You know, a cocky know-it-all teen who would rather stick a hot poker in his eye than respond positively to any authority figure. I was invincible. To say I learned several lessons the hard way that summer is an understatement. After a random Tuesday of lifeguarding followed by a host of "extra-curricular activities," I departed for home in my gray Plymouth Horizon at 2:00 am. Unfortunately, I entered my slumber prior arriving and found myself trapped in the car at the bottom of an embankment with a visibly broken right femur, broken pelvis and several internal injuries. (Fortunately, no one else was involved in the accident.) It wasn't until 6:00 a.m. that a truck driver finally spotted my car from above and notified emergency responders. The last thing I remember hearing was the sound of a helicopter and a voice saying, "This doesn't look good. I don't think this kid is going to make it." Over the next two weeks, the doctors and nurses in Baltimore's legendary University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, buoyed by the prayers of family and friends, saved my life. They said I was only minutes from bleeding to death in the car. Shortly after I arrived at the hospital, my left lung collapsed and plastic tubes were inserted to help me breathe. After fighting the machines that were providing my oxygen, they induced a coma, in which I remained for five days. I learned later that my chances of living fell below 10 percent. As a financial planner, I should point out that those are not favorable odds. My near-death experience is a classic case of horrendous risk management. There are four primary risk management techniques: risk avoidance, risk reduction, risk assumption (or self-insurance) and risk transfer (or insurance). Viewing my accident through the lens of a risk manager, this was a risk that could've been easily avoided by simply NOT driving at 2 am after a day drenched in sun and, well, other stuff. Or, the risk could've been significantly reduced by asking for a ride home or at least wearing shoes and a seatbelt. Instead, the decision I made was to assume all of the risk personally. Thankfully, the financial risk was transferred to auto and health insurance companiesotherwise I'd still be paying the bills. If you attempt to transfer all of your risk by purchasing insurance for everything for which it was created, you won't have any money left. You manage risk, however, every day whether you know it or not. Do you wear a seat belt? You're managing risk through risk reduction. Are you a boater? You've made a risk management decision, electing to assume additional risk. Have you never smoked a day in your life? You're a risk manager, avoiding one notable cause of an early death. A greater understanding of risk management techniques will help you make better insurance decisions. You'll know when you need insurance or need better insurance, and you'll also know when you need less or no insurance at all. Proper risk management results in less stressbecause you're not wondering about issues you haven't addressedand a healthier personal bottom line.

Read the article posted above, then answer the following questions:

A. What risk control or loss prevention actions could Tim have taken to reduce the chance of an accident?

B. What actions could Tim have taken to reduce the impact of an accident if he had one?