Within these last two weeks, I was involved in a car accident. I was stopped at a traffic light around four in the afternoon when I heard a bunch of beeping from behind me. I looked into my rear-view mirror to see a silver car swerving from one lane to mine with no intentions of stopping. I was at a light with cars in front of me with nowhere to go... These thoughts all came through my head as I braced myself for impact. Crunch. I ended up sliding into the lady in front of me, and before i could even react, she was out of her car checking on me. It took me awhile to gather myself. I didn't even know what to do. I was trying to figure out if I was hurt, but I couldn't feel anything, adrenaline I guess. I finally got out of my car to evaluate the damage on my poor car, and get a glimpse of the perpetrator.
My car was pretty banged up, but it could have been a lot worse. It didn't take long for me to recognize that the man who hit me was drunk while I watched him interact with the lady I slid into and the individuals who witnessed the accident. I heard him explain to one of the ladies with slurred words, that he hit me because he was beeping in support of the people on strike along the road. At that instant I could feel my blood begin to boil, so I stayed by my car until the police came, instructed us to move our vehicles to a safer location, and hauled off Mr. Silver Car to the hospital for a blood alcohol test.
I was so upset thinking about how the accident could have been so much worse than what it was. He could have killed me! Not only was he drunk at four in the afternoon, but he decided to get behind the wheel when he obviously was not in a proper state of mind to drive! Now because of him, myself and the lady in front of me had to deal with unnecessary pain, damage to our vehicles, insurance claims and medical appointments. The poor lady I crashed into was late picking her kids up and stressing out about the events to follow in her evening. I had to make that heart-stopping call to both my boyfriend and mother telling them that I was hit by a drunk driver, but I'm alright. No one is calm after hearing this news.
Following the accident, I am still struggling with back pain, getting a hold of the drunk driver's insurance company, and finding a new doctor because my previous one's staff was a joke. When I told them I was in an accident and needed to be seen on May 26th, they informed me that they wouldn't be able to see me until the 13th of June!
Drinking and driving has always been a pet peeve of mine, and since my accident, I have been reading a lot more more about it, and my feelings only become more intense. So many lives have been taken because someone decided to drive while intoxicated. It is careless and disgustingly selfish! According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, in 2014, 9,967 people died in drunk driving crashes... that is one every 53 minutes. In the same year 290,000 people were injured in drunk driving accidents as well. If people chose not to mix alcohol with driving, almost 10,000 people could have been spared, and this is only in 2014.
I know many individuals whose lives have been permanently affected by drunk driving, and it breaks my heart. Whether they were involved in the crash and seriously hurt themselves, or someone else involved was seriously hurt or killed, or they have a loved one who was killed or killed someone because of driving drunk. The consequences of driving drunk are not only severe, but they are permanently life-altering! Is any Jägerbomb or Jello Shot really worth ending up in jail or the morgue? If you want to go out and get have a good time, get a designated driver, take the bus, call an Uber, walk, or call someone!
Bottom line... drunk driving fatalities and injuries are 100 percent preventable. Stay home, or have a plan to get home.
