“In 2014, 9,967 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31 percent) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.

Of the 1,070 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2014, 209 (19 percent) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.
Of the 209 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2014, over half (116) were riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver.”

(Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Impaired Driving: Get the Facts)

Drunk driving has to be one of my biggest pet peeves in the entire history of the world, ever. How can someone be so stupid to think that driving while completely intoxicated is an even slightly good idea?!

I am in no way saying drinking is something to be frowned upon. It is a time for people to relieve stress, relax, celebrate, have fun, etc. with whomever they please. I am, however, hard-core judging you if you drink and then try to drive yourself anywhere.

Driving while under the influence of anything is absolutely, positively the worst idea you could ever have. You put not only yourself in an outrageously dangerous situation, but literally everyone else on the road or even outside in that moment.

What if you swerve and hit an oncoming car with a mother and child in it?

Veer off to the right a bit and crash into a light pole, or an innocent pedestrian walking their dog?

Maybe you hit a home with an elderly couple sleeping inside and kill them in cold blood before they ever got to see their grandson play baseball the next morning?

There are endless possibilities of everything that can go wrong. How are the people of clear mind and sober supposed to keep themselves and their families safe from harm? There is no way that they can even do that themselves when you are out being a complete idiot trying to drive home from the bar across town, or to the nearest convenience store to pick up another six pack.

I can guarantee there are people out there in this world that you know that will happily (or even begrudgingly) come pick you up from wherever you are and drive you home that night so that you and those around you stay safe on the roads. I respect an annoyingly drunk person 1,000 percent more when they ask me to drive them home because I am sober and have a clear mind set, versus them thinking they can do it themselves.

If you and your friends all want to drink, and not a SINGLE person is willing to stay sober that night, there are other options to get home. Your first move is to find new friends who are concerned about how they will call get home after a night of drinking. Secondly, you can use Uber, call a taxi, stay the night at a friends house that is within WALKING distance of wherever you are drinking at. There are endless opportunities to stay safe on roads after a night of drinking. But for the love of everything in this world, do not drink and drive.

So many people in this county have been affected by a story of a drunk driver. Many have mothers, fathers, family members, friends, children, etc. that were killed by someone who decided it would be a great idea to drive under the influence one night. Others, lost those same people because the person that passed away that night was the driver who was intoxicated. Driving drunk is never a good decision. It has caused so many families heartache and pain from watching someone drink themselves to their own because they got behind the wheel, or had to be the one to answer that horrible phone call in the middle of the night that their favorite person in the world no longer existed because of another human who was absolutely ignorant one night and drove when they knew they should not.

The summer can be filled with fun nights surrounded with friends and family. Catching up with long lost friends over a few beers or reminiscing about family Christmas's and memories over wine and cocktails. Have fun! Do everyone in this world a favor: If you drink, do not drive.