"Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving accident."

"Every day in America, another 28 people die as a result of drunk driving crashes. This is one death every 53 minutes"

In November 2014, on the day of the twenty-fourth, I was involved in terrifying car accident, not only was it me in the car but also 2 of my very close friends and my boyfriend. We were driving down the road going around 40 miles per hour and while passing a side street, we were hit by a driver that ran a stop sign, little did we know...this driver was intoxicated. She hit our car on the passenger-side door and made our car spin out 360 degrees across a lane of traffic, missed two parked cars and ended up in a stranger's front lawn, practically almost in their living room. The cops arrived in a record amount of time, her breathalyzer read .16 at the age of 19. Thankfully, we all only came out with minor injuries, but the physical injuries aren't the ones that matter anymore. Hospitals can fix a lot of things, but they can not cure the memories made.

In the time that it took me to write this article from start to finish until now, ten people have been injured in a drunk driving accident.

Drunk driving not only affects your life but it can affect many other people's lives. Imagine getting a phone call from someone saying that a person you love has been injured or killed by a drunk driver, now I want you to imagine you being the intoxicated person that is behind the wheel. The way that you'd be affected is the same way someone else would be affected if you were the drunk driver. Now I want you to imagine getting into your car or someone else's car intoxicated and being involved in a car accident, imagine if the other car you hit was someone you love.

From November 2014 to now in June 2016, I am still affected by this car accident. It leaves a mental scar in your head, as if every time you get into a car you're going to get hit. If I come to close to the back of someone's car as a passenger, I get nervous and clench up. If I am in the car over a long period of time, I suffer from panic attacks due to the thought of the car accident. As if this car accident wasn't enough, in December 2015 on the day of the twenty-fourth, my boyfriend, his mom, dad, little sister, and I were involved in a car accident. The cause of this one? A drunk driver. The sound of my boyfriend's 12-year-old sister screaming is something I will never be able to forget. Thankfully, again, no one was hurt in our vehicle. Unfortunately, in the other vehicle there were two men, one of whom wasn't wearing a seat belt and their head went through the windshield. From this, he was taken to the hospital and I believe he had a concussion, but I do not know for sure.

I can understand that driving while intoxicated may be tempting, whether you're coming home from a party or just driving down the street the risks are still the same. You still risk your life, other people's lives, and I feel personally that that right there should be enough to stop you from getting into a car intoxicated or with an intoxicated driver. You have the power to say no, you have to power to take control of the situation and stop what you or someone else will regret.

Now that you're at the end of this article I feel that I should tell you my own little fact. It took me thirty-six minutes to write up until this point, and since two people are injured every minute, that is eighteen people injured in a drunk driving accident while I was writing this article.

You can make a difference. Pledge to make a difference at-

http://buzzeddriving.adcouncil.org/

Ask yourself, is it really worth it?