I’m sure almost everyone has been in a situation where they thought about driving home after just a couple drinks. We all say we would never do it but once you’re actually placed in that situation you start to think about it. Hopefully, you will always decide not to drive but we all know this is not always the case. This article is for those people.
If you ever decide to drive after a few drinks, realize this; you are either stupid or have a death wish. And even if it is the ladder, you are stupid either way. Even if you don’t care what happens to you, this decision does not only affect you. There are other people on the road, there are other people who are choosing to live their lives safely.
“Of the 1,070 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2014, 209 (19%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver” (http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/812231.pdf).
When you drive under the influence, you are not just putting your own safety at risk, you are putting the safety of everyone’s lives around you at risk. And frankly, you have absolutely no right to make that choice. You have absolutely no right to get in a car under the influence and endanger the lives of everyone around you.
As an EMT and someone who has been a part of that community for my whole life, I can also tell you that whenever I hear a call that involves an alcohol-impaired driver, I am immediately filled with rage. It is most definitely because I’ve seen so many parents lose their children over the actions of an alcohol-impaired driver, but it is also because I’ve seen people’s entire lives change due to PTSD caused by these accidents. These are people that chose their job in order to help people, and ended up being destroyed in the process because of idiots that think it’s okay to drive after drinking.
I do not believe the intentions of an alcohol-impaired driver is to kill anyone or ruin anyone’s life but they simply do not think about how their decisions can affect others. So all I ask of drivers is to think, think about who else your actions are affecting and have compassion for those around you, you have absolutely no right to make decisions for other people so do not be a danger to those around you.