* The 2014-2015 senior student signature series features area senior class students – and their own “signature” outlooks on a topic of their choice. A new outlook will be posted on Cross-Counties Connect each Friday. The series opens with point of view comments by seniors from Mountain Lake Public High School. The opinions can be found by clicking on the Family & Faith link on the website’s header, and scrolling down to, and clicking on, Outlook. Their teachers are Brenda Feil, Kim Syverson and Debby Jass.
Alcohol + Driving = Scars For Life
Driving while intoxicated is dangerous. Drivers with high blood alcohol content or concentration (BAC) are at greatly-increased risk of car accidents, highway injuries and vehicular deaths. I think alcohol can ruin many lives and harm relationship with friends, family and the victim’s family. I believe that people can have a great time and a few drinks, but when people have more than that – I draw the line.
I’m not trying to say alcohol should be banned, but before going out to drink, people should think of all the ways their night could go wrong. I also wonder what would happen if one day bars would finally control a person’s consumption and limit how many drinks they can have. People may feel like their rights are being taken away. some people would start buying their own alcohol, do their heavy drinking at home and be irresponsible enough to drive afterwards.
The problem: Every single injury caused by a drunk driver is totally preventable. According to recent Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) research, the proportion of crashes that are alcohol-related has dropped dramatically in recent decades, but there are still too many preventable crashes that could have been stopped or ended in a different way. The other problem is that when a person drinks, they don’t think right. They should be thinking ahead of time before they drink. Some do, and I respect that, but the people who don’t plan ahead of time to have a ride waiting for them are usually the ones who harm people’s lives and end up in trouble. Sometimes friends – and even family – lose respect for that person. As well, the victim has to live with life-long problems, such as, not being able to ever walk or talk again, therapy and medical bills – all because of a person who was irresponsible enough to not worry about the impacts he or she could make.
About 15 years ago, four kids were headed home from a birthday party when Reggie Stephey, a drunk driver who was a senior in high school and who had a full-ride football scholarship to play at college, collided with them. Two of those kids died on the sport, and the other two were badly injured. Jacqui Saburido was stuck in the car when the car started on fire. By the time the police and ambulance got there, Jacqui’s body was 60% burned. When Jacqui got to the hospital, they tried to save parts of her body, but couldn’t because they were so badly burned. Her hands, and part of her face, had to be cut off. Reggie only got seven years in jail – but Jacqui got a life sentence. Is that fair? To me, it’s not, because Reggie killed two people and badly injured two people. Today, Jacqui is not the same person she was before the accident – and probably won’t every be – all because of a drunk driver.
The facts: All states have the same BAC limit, which is 0.08%. All it takes is one drink. After that, the brain keeps thinking it wants more and more. So, what does a person do? He or she goes and has another drink, and reallly, all that is doing is making a person want more. According to the DWI records, the average drunk driver’s BAC is 0.16% when an accident is reported as alcohol-related.
The solution: For starters, people should think before they drink. They should think ahead and look at all the ways their night could go bring – before they grab that first drink. Other solutions would be to make sure that they have a designated driver or a ride home. One simple little decision like that could change a person’s whole life forever.
I’m not against alcohol. I think people should be able to drink. But, where I draw the line is when a person is irresponsible enough to only worry about himself or herself. It usually ends up that someone else’s family has to pay the price, all because of that simple choice that could have been played and thought out in a different way instead of getting behind the wheel drunk.