Drinking and driving costs lives!

This is an Opinion piece (Persuasive/Argumentative) and not Expository article.

Now I know this is a super sensitive topic that no one ever wants to hear or talk about , especially during the holiday season, but this is still a real thing

We are not implying that all people who drink are Drunk Drivers.  We understand that there is people who drink and still keep the law by being responsible and not drive while under the influence.

More than 50% of motorists on the road are under the influence everyday and this percentage just sky rockets over the holiday season? For the person that drinks and drive; their life doesn’t matter to them when they decide to get behind the wheel of a car. Personally I have no idea what goes through a person’s head when they are drunk, because I know my limits and never get more than just a little tipsy! The worst part is I can’t even drive.

The holiday season is a time to let your hair down and let loose of all the stresses of the year, sadly most people turn to alcohol to take the “edge off” although alcohol stresses me up even more! People wanna forget all their problems and woes, even if its just for a little while. That is your choice and privilege. It’s not a right that you have to obey or exercise just like driving. You have a privilege to drive but do not take that privilege for granted and put others lives in danger!

Every single alcohol beverage that I have drank or seen advertised always tells you to drink responsibly. Most people start with saying – ok I can stay for 1 beer or a 1 glass of wine and then I need to get going, more often than not 1 becomes 2 and then 3 and before you know it you can barely stand straight up let alone drive, yet you still didn’t make plans to call an uber, a sober friend or a shuttle service to drive you home safely, sometimes you are lucky enough to get home, know idea of how you got there but your car is in the drive way, so you start getting confident and tell yourself you have done this before countless times, but 1 day there is this momentary relapse – you pass out behind the wheel, just for a second and when you finally wake up – your dead, you have killed a family, you or your victims have been paralyzed or lost limbs, the family has lost their car, maybe they have insurance, maybe they don’t. You know you cannot admit what you have done, because that could mean hefty fines, jail time, banned from traveling internationally, you can’t find work etc. So you lie, you say you weren’t drunk maybe try pay a few people off, but will the guilt torment you or will you laugh it off and stand proud of getting away with attempted murder/murder!

We have a similar story to tell! 1 Morning we were taking 5 dogs (4 were puppies at the time) and 1 cat to the vet, we were starting to celebrate that we were so close to the Vet (just 10km away) and we were excited to spend the day at a popular game reserve while our pets were being sterilized.

When a young driver swerved into our lane , at first we thought there might be a service gate up ahead, but that was not the case, the crash was severe and we could barely get out of bed for 2 weeks, our pups were so scared, 1 pup was flung into the windscreen, and thankfully only has 2 broken toes and lost her 2 toe nails, the worst is we were unable to seek medical attention as we would lose our pets.

When we tell people today we were in a head-on collision the first thing people do is examine us with their eyes top to bottom! Some try hide it, but we were 1 of the very few lucky people to walk out without any serious injuries, God definitely had his hand on us that day, unfortunately the other driver did not wear a seatbelt and suffered much more severe injuries.

They deny it was their fault, but there is circumstantial evidence suspecting alcohol was involved.

It really hurts to know that are young society is made up of alcoholics and that’s what we are teaching the next generation to do as well. When will this end…

Next time you think of getting behind the wheel even after 1 beer, think twice, think if another drunk driver drove into your family and harmed them how would you feel and what would you do? That is what you could be doing to someone else’s family. Next time you get behind the wheel think twice do I want to be a murderer/attempted murderer and a thief or can I try make a plan to get home someway else!