While out late with a bunch of friends on a Friday night, David is ready to leave. He is starting to see double of everything and can’t interpret others speaking. His mind is jumbled. The only thought still lingering in David’s mind after having 12 Budweiser’s and 20 shots of liquor, was his bed. David only wanted to go home to his nice cozy bed where his pregnant wife would be waiting up for his 1 a. m. arrival. As David stumbles through his crowd of friends, many of them stop him and offer rides, but he refuses.
With only 7 miles to drive home, David hops in his Dodge. Step by step he takes five minutes to get his car prepared for the trip. The car is started, the lights are on, and his seat belt is fastened. David gradually backs out and takes off, feeling the speed and tears out of the small town, squealing his tires, like a maniac. David is highly intoxicated, going 90 mph and only has one eye open. Then all of the sudden there’s a curve, a curve David went around every day on his way to work. The thought of the curve had merely slipped his mind.
He tried to slow down, but it was too late. His tires hit the graveled shoulder. He then tried to save it, but it only over corrected, and flipped four times. David still locked in his seat belt, sits there upside down blood is everywhere. Suddenly another one of his friends came across the scene and immediately called 911. David was then rushed to the local hospital and then transported to the University of Iowa Hospitals by helicopter. At 4:36 a. m. David was pronounced dead with severe injuries to the head and several broken bones.
Some may think that if David wasn’t wearing his seat belt he would have had a better chance of surviving the horrifying wreck, but that’s not the case. If David would have made the right choice and did not to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol with his friends, the situation would have been avoided and he would still be alive today. Unfortunately, events like this one are far too common in today’s society. People, especially young adults find the need to go out and drink, which eventually results in driving.
Alcohol provides people with the sense of happiness, depression, and the thought that nothing bad could happen to them. People walk through life seeing, hearing, and reading bad things happening to others around them and don’t even fathom the thought of it happening to them one day. It’s only a matter of time. Although some may not have any other choice other than to drive home after drinking, many people don’t consider the effects such as receiving a fine, totaling their vehicle, and ultimately creating the possibility of death to others and themselves.
Because there is such a large percentage of people who drink and drive, the police enforcement has cracked down on trying to hand out fines. In the United States today, it is considered a crime for anyone to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of . 08 percent. An attorney who is well educated on law enforcement, Rich Stim’s article, “Teen Drunk Driving: The Sobering Facts of Underage DUIs” Stim states, “Although drivers under the age of 21 represent 10 percent of licensed drivers they are responsible for 17 percent of fatal alcohol-related crashes.
Approximately 2,000 underage drinkers die each year behind the wheel and alcohol is a factor in a third of all teenage auto fatalities (Stim 1). Since the rate of alcohol related accidents keeps increasing, the number of people that receive DUI’s has too. There are several stories shared today about those who have received DUI’s whether it’s online or in the newspaper. In the MISSOURI v. McNEELY article, “Supreme Court of the United States” it states, “Respondent McNeely was stopped by a Missouri police officer for speeding and crossing the centerline.
After declining to take a breath test to measure his blood alcohol concentration (BAC), he was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for blood testing. The officer never attempted to secure a search warrant. McNeely refused to consent to the blood test, but the officer directed a lab technician to take a sample. McNeely’s BAC tested well above the legal limit, and he was charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI)” (MISSOURI v. McNEELY 1). Since the defendant was found guilty of driving while intoxicated, he received not only received a DUI, but he also got his license taken away.
When people receive a DUI, it not only affects their ability to legally drive, but it also affects people’s futures. Receiving a DUI makes college applications and job applications more difficult, considering it’s on their record. People who receive DUI’s must go through the legal system and have to hire an attorney. The cost of the fines and hiring an attorney are only the least amount of damage a drunk driver can cause. McNeely considers himself to be lucky for only receiving a DUI. When people are caught drinking and driving, receiving a DUI is at the bottom of the totem pole.
McNeely’s case could have had a worse outcome, such as totaling his vehicle. People tend to feel like they are still able to drive after drinking, ignoring the effects such as totaling their vehicles. Alcohol directly affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neurotransmitters, completely changing the behavior of one’s moral state. People have a tendency to feel like they are able to function the same way they would if they were sober, not thinking about the consequences. People are lucky if all they are facing is a totaled car and a few scrapes and bruises.
In Julia Beatty’s article, “It Happened To Me: I Crashed My Car And Got A DUI,” it tells her story of the time she totaled her car after leaving a party on the fourth of July. She was trying to find the exit to get back home, but none of the roads looked right. Then when she thought she found the right road, she swerved over three lanes. After almost hitting two cars head on, she flipped her car in the ditch. Julia concludes her story by saying, “Every single punishment that I got I wholeheartedly deserved. I’m not asking for pity when I tell you I spent the entire day after the accident sobbing over what I could have caused.
I’m just admitting that I made a terrible mistake and am truly lucky that it didn’t end someone’s life, especially that wonderful woman who held me while I cried” (Beatty 1). Julia learned a lot from that drunken night. Julia is considered lucky; she was able to walk away from the wreck. She not only received a DUI and totaled her car, but she also created the possibility of death to others and herself by drinking and driving. When people drink and drive they should always consider the dangers of creating the possibility of death to others and themselves.
In an article called from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration called, “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts” it states, “Every day, almost 30 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 51 minutes. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $59 billion” (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 1). The fact that so many people die every day in the United States from alcohol related accidents is absolutely ridiculous.
The stories are endless. In Steve Schmadeke’s article, “Man gets 15 years in DUI accident that killed mother, son” He talks about the terrible tragedy that ended two innocent lives. Schmadeke states, “A speeding, unlicensed driver who crashed into another car on the Northwest Side, killing a mother and her teenage son and injuring three other children, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison” (Schmadeke 1). Because 37 year old, Richard Strum decided to drive while intoxicated, he took two innocent lives and injured three others.
He not only took a mother, but he also took a daughter, sister, and wife. He not only took a son, but he also took a brother, cousin, best friend, student, and ultimately someone who didn’t even have a chance at real life before it was taken away. Drunken driving accidents are far too common in today’s society. What more can people do to help? The death rate due to driving while intoxicated only continues to increase. No amount of alcohol is worth more than a human’s life. David is only a young adult, about to be a father when he dies. His life was significantly cut short.
Because of his careless decision to drive home after drinking a lot of alcohol, David will never get the chance to grow with his wife or meet their unborn child. David will also be missing out on all the little things in life, the little things that would have meant the most in future of his family. He not only left his friends behind that night, he also left behind his family, and left them all in sorrow. For now David will only be within the silence. Looking down from above, watching his baby’s first tooth grow in, first steps, and first words. In hopes his wife finds happiness again.
Julia Beatty states, “I’m just admitting that I made a terrible mistake and am truly lucky that it didn’t end someone’s life, if I could take it back I would in a heartbeat” (Beatty 1). Without a doubt, David would go back in time and accept his friends offer, but unfortunately that is not possible. People really have to consider all the affects behind drinking and driving. Although some may not have any other choice other than to drive home after drinking, many people don’t consider the effects like, receiving a fine, totaling their vehicle, and ultimately creating the possibility of death to others and themselves.
No matter how tempting driving becomes when intoxicated, don’t be the one. Don’t be the one begging everyone for rides because their license was taken from a DUI, or the one who wrecks their vehicle trying to find the right road, and most importantly, don’t be the one that has to live with the thought of knowing a family is now broken, because one thought it was okay to drink and drive. Don’t be the one.