Dear drunk drivers,
I want to confront you on a topic that I'm sure you have already been confronted about: drunk driving.
No drink is worth the human life that you could possibly take away for the simple decision you made to drive. If you even have to question it, don't drive.
Almost 30 people every day die due to an accident involving a drunk driver. 30. It has become far too common for that to be one of the biggest reasons for car accidents. Don't you think it's sad that the first thing people ask when they hear about accidents is if alcohol was involved?
People are losing their best friends, their mothers, their fathers, their siblings, their children. How would you feel if you had to go through that pain of losing people you love knowing that the reason they are dead is because of a stupid decision someone decided to make, and yes, I said stupid. Believe me, you do not want to be in jail with the guilty conscience of knowing that somebody is dead because of you.
I feel like a common excuse for drunk drivers to say why they drove is that they couldn't afford to get a ride. I'm here to tell you that if you can afford to go out and get drunk, then you can afford to be responsible and get a ride home. Whether you get an Uber or Lyft or have a friend come and get you, you need to take care of yourself and the other innocent people on the road. One second you could feel like you're fine to drive, while the next it could all hit you and you're swerving off the road. Don't be that guy. That guy doesn't look good.
Besides from injuring or potentially killing yourself or another person, you are also putting yourself at risk of getting a DUI. Driving under the influence is the most common criminal offense in the United States. While you may understand that getting a DUI would result in a suspended license, fees and fines, jail time and mandatory community service work, you may not realize that long-term consequences can include your license being completely revoked, your employment/future employment being negatively affected, higher insurance rates, and a lowering of your reputation that could potentially ruin professional and personal relationships.
Your drink is not worth ruining your life over. I'm not telling you to not drink, I'm just begging you to be responsible. Think about what you're doing before you do it. Ask yourself, if things go wrong, if you could look at yourself in the mirror every day and forgive yourself for killing someone else if you even get the chance to look in the mirror in the first place. You will never look bad for deciding to do the right thing, but you will look bad if you willingly do the wrong thing. Just because you have driven under the influence before, it doesn't mean you should do it again. You weren't in the right for getting home OK, you were lucky.
You at least owe that much to yourself. Don't try to put up a front and pretend like you're good to drive. If you know you have to drive home, limit yourself and make sure that when it's time to drive that you're sober. Who cares if your friends look at you like your crazy. If they're judging you for not driving after you've been drinking, then those people shouldn't be your friends.
I'm begging you, be aware of what you are doing. Be smart. I, as well as almost everyone I know, have lost people due to drunk driving. I know people who have a DUI and every single one of them would admit that driving drunk is one of their biggest regrets. If it's a decision that you may possibly regret later, then the right choice is to probably not do it.
Think about the phone call. How would you feel if you get a call or the police show up at your doorstep to tell you that your wife is dead? How would feel if you got a call that your daughter was riding her bike home when a drunk driver swerved and killed her instantly? How would you feel getting your court date where you're found guilty of murder for killing someone because you drove drunk?
It's not worth it. Your drink is not worth the consequences. Your drink is not worth someone's life.
Period.
