Driving while intoxicated isn t something that should even have to be discussed with as much fervor as it is. Apparently, there are still millions of people out there who feel that they are sober enough to sit behind the driver s seat of a vehicle and drive home. However, what many of these people fail to realize is that regardless of whether or not they are driving a couple of blocks or a couple of miles, driving while intoxicated is incredibly dangerous, and it doesn t take that long to become involved in a serious enough accident where you can actually injure yourself, or injure/kill others.
I remember one occasion a few years ago when I went out to a local club/bar with some friends in downtown Raleigh. While we were there, we were all drinking and having a good time. However, one of our friends had been drinking a little too much. It was obvious that he was intoxicated, and towards the end of the night, I started to enjoy myself less and less as I began to think about the fact that he had driven himself and his cousin (who was also extremely intoxicated) to the bar. At the end of the night, my friend and I had arranged for her fiance (who was a police officer) to pick us up and take us home. In the meantime, we worried about our other friend and his cousin who were beyond inebriated by that point.
While we were standing outside of the club, I asked how they were going to get home to which they both slurred that they were going to drive home. They then proceeded to point down the street to where they had parked their Jeep Cherokee. Worriedly, I turned to my friend s fiance (who was still in his police uniform, having just gotten off of work). He was my ride home, and I figured that he would have something to say on the subject since, clearly, driving while intoxicated was against the law. However, I was shocked when he insisted on letting them drive home in their drunken state while he got us home safely. I will never forget the feeling of disappointment, guilt and anger that I felt as we pulled away from the curb and I watched our other friend stumble alongside of his cousin as they climbed into their car.
The next day, I met up with them and they seemed totally find. Clearly, they had made it home ok, but when I asked how they were able to get home safely, he responded that he didn t even remember driving home. How scary a thought that is. It just goes to show you that if you are going to drink alcohol, you need to be responsible for your actions. Otherwise, you may wind up hurting yourself or others. Only a year later, this same friend of mine wound up killing himself when, after a night of heavy drinking, he went into his house and found his police handgun and shot himself in the head. He had been a police officer as well.
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