Once we hit the years where we start going out to parties and experimenting with drinking alcohol, there are so many things for parents to be concerned about. As an eighteen year old entering your first year of college, you don’t necessarily understand the concerns of your parents. Sometimes it’s easy to get annoyed and wonder why they nag you so hard. “Make the right decisions!”, “Use the buddy system!”, “Don’t drink too much!”, “Don’t drink and drive!” These are just some of the things you hear on a Friday night just before getting off the phone with a parent when you’re about to go out to a party. It’s easy to overlook these little instructions that seem so simple, until you make one wrong decision and suddenly life has become a parent’s worst nightmare.
According to madd.org, twenty seven people a day die in the United States as a result of a drunk driving crash. That’s twenty-seven more than the number of deaths caused by drinking and driving should be. On average, every two minutes, someone is injured because of a drunk driver. All of these deaths and injuries are one hundred percent avoidable. We hear about these horrific accidents in the news all the time, but do we ever stop to think, ‘what if it happened to us?’ What if someone I loved was effected by a poor decision made that could be the cause of a fatal result?
Cabrini University human resources major Erin Anzideo has never been affected by a drunk driving accident or has never had a loved one effected and hopes that she never will.
“I think people get behind the wheel after a night of drinking because they feel invincible, and at that point in time, they think they are making a good decision,” Anzideo said.
For a person over the drinking age of twenty one, the legal BAC (blood alcohol concentration) is .08. With a BAC higher than .08, your muscle coordination, including balance, speech, reaction time, vision, and hearing, are reduced to a level that makes you incapable of operating a vehicle. In a sober state of mind, would you get behind the wheel of your car unable to think, speak, see, or hear correctly? It’s the little things that aren’t necessarily thought about before getting behind the wheel that make such a deadly impact.
On average, two out of three people throughout their lifetime will be involved in a drunk driving crash. According to MADD.org, in 2015 10,265 people had their lives taken because of a drunk driving accident. Every single one of those deaths caused heartbreak in the lives of the people that experienced the loss of their loved one. Imagine a life losing a loved one because of one deadly decision that could have been avoided.
Michael Joyce, a criminal justice major at Delaware Valley University, has had his life impacted by a drunk driving accident.
“It’s a huge eye opener, you know, seeing my best friend since kindergarten laying in a hospital bed unable to communicate with me and then realizing there are thousands of others just like this or even worse out there. It’s made a really big impact on the lives of all of our families, friends, and everyone that knows him,” Joyce said. “No matter how much you have had to drink, whether it was one beer or fifteen, don’t get behind the wheel or get into a car with someone who’s been drinking. Just don’t do it. There are so many options out there that makes these accidents so avoidable.”
Anzideo feels that it is important for everyone to know that drinking and driving could not only harm yourself, but everyone around you as well. “Drinking and driving never has a positive outcome. To reduce the fatalities and injuries caused by drinking and driving, I think it’s important for people to take a stand. Before going out for the night, have a set designated driver that will get you and others home safely. It’s important to drink responsibly and always be aware of your surroundings. Use your voice and save a life.”
Joyce felt passionately about getting involved with an organization to spread awareness about the outcome and severity of drinking and driving. “If I were at a party and saw a person about to drive home after drinking and saw people getting into the car with that person, I would immediately stop it from happening. I would tell them the danger they were about to get themselves into, and the deadly outcomes that could happen from this one decision.”
There are so many different options out there to avoid such horrific outcomes. In the world we live in today, we have taxi and ride services such as Uber or Lyft to pick you up and take you to your destination. If you can’t afford these, have a plan before you go out. Call a friend or a family member and ask if they can pick you up from the party you’re going to, or the bar you will be at. Many people feel that they will be a disappointment to their family for being intoxicated, but your family will be more pained if you aren’t around because you were too scared to ask for a ride. Have a member of your friend group be the set designated driver for the night to make sure everyone gets home safely. What might be an inconvenience for a night will be the best decision when knowing all of your loved ones are safe and sound because they didn’t get behind the wheel or in a car with someone who was drinking and planned on driving.
I hope everyone out there knows that you are important and your life matters. Losing a loved one is never easy, no matter what caused the loss. Losing a loved one to something that can easily be avoided makes matters so much worse. I’m asking you to please think before making a decision that could end your life, someone else’s life, and be the worst nightmare a parent could possibly endure. Think before you drink. Think before you drink and drive. It’s not worth it. For more information, please visit madd or http://responsibility.org/.
