*Buzz* You just got a text from Riley, a girl in the dorm down the hall inviting you out to a party with some of the girls. You agree even though you should stay and work on that paper for World Lit. You'll just work on it when you get back. So you spend the twenty minutes getting ready and picking out the perfect outfit. *Buzz* Another text. Time to go out and have some fun.
You all cram into Riley's car and jam out to The Chainsmokers and ZAYN on your way to the party. You pull up to a raging Frat house. There are people everywhere. You walk into the house, and one of the frat guys comes up to y'all offering a jello shot. You smile and take one thinking to yourself, just one. Five jello shots and a few red solo cups later, Riley finds you talking to one of the guys and pulls you away saying it's time to go. At this point, everything is starting to become really hazy and you keep stumbling over your own feet trying to make your way to her car. You fall down a couple steps leading off the porch.When you finally get to the car, you open the passenger side door and kinda just fall in. Y'all are just laughing and having a good time. Before you know it, you've dozed off.
*BAM* You suddenly wake up when your face hits the airbag. You can feel the blood gushing from your nose and taste the saltiness in your mouth. It's getting harder to breathe. You cough and some more blood comes out. You look around. The windshield is shattered and splattered with blood. It looks more like red mosaic glass tiles than it does a windshield.
Riley lies next to you. If you didn't know she was sitting next to you, you wouldn't know who it was because her face is so unrecognizable. There was blood streaming down her face. She's not moving. One hand is still clasped on the steering wheel and the other lays lifeless on the center console. You grab her hand, squeezing so tightly that you can imagine your knuckles going white. "Please wake up. Please wake up Riley," you silently pray. You try to turn your head to check on the girls that were sitting behind you, but a searing pain shoots down your spine, stopping you in your tracks. In the background, you can hear a lady yelling for her children to say something, anything. But they don't.
The yelling stops and you can faintly hear her sobs. You try to yell for her "Aaare yoou ok--" . Your words are too slurred to understand and that's the last thing you remember before drifting out of consciousness. The next time you open your eyes there are blinding bright blue, red, and white lights everywhere. You can hear the sound of metal crunching as the firefighters use the jaws of life to pry your cold, limp body out of the car.
They pull you onto the gurney and rush you into the back of an ambulance. You keep drifting in and out of consciousness. When you come back, you ask the EMT, "What happened? Where am I?" The EMT takes a moment to respond. "Ma'am you're going to be fine. Your car hit a family's minivan--" Everything becomes blurry and eventually goes dark again. "Everyone's okay, right?" Your voice shakes as you try to ask when you start waking up again. She takes your hand and says, "You're the only one who survived." You could literally feel your heart ripping into a million pieces inside your chest. You start to think to yourself if only you stayed and worked on the paper. If only we didn't go this party. If only we didn't drink so much. If only...
- In 2014, 9,967 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) 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%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.
- Drugs other than alcohol (legal and illegal) are involved in about 16% of motor vehicle crashes.
**Statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention**
When you drink, you think it only affects you. The reality is, it affects you and everyone around you. When you decide to drink and drive, you are not only putting your life in danger but every other person on the road. You can shatter someone's whole world. You think you're sober enough to drive home? Then you should be sober enough to call someone else to drive you or call an uber. Everyone has someone who loves them and wants them to come home safe, including you. Please, think before you get behind the wheel under the influence.
