About: Cars & Cocktails Just Don’t Mix

Drunk driving will impact one in three of us.

The purpose of this blog is to address the true prevalence of drunk driving and how we can convince people to stop doing it.  The statistics may be high and unsettling for some, but even they don’t compare to the amount of drunk drivers really out there.  Harsh legal consequences don’t seem to phase people from getting into their cars after having one too many.

I would like to reach out to Larry Slagle, who serves as the President of Yellow Cab of the greater Orange County area.  A major accomplishment I would like to see play into effect from the influence of this particular blog would be to work with Yellow Cab to form some kind of “anti-drunk driving” agreement with the public that allows individuals to pay either a flat fee for a membership or card that will credit them either a free or discounted ride home within a 5 mile radius.  While getting law enforcement to crack down on drivers at night and educating classrooms on the dangers of driving under the influence are effective, for some reason driving after drinking is still a risk many people are willing to take.  Also, drinking is going to happen whether you like it or not; prevention may not necessarily be the only method to end driving under the influence.  We need to take action a step further and focus more towards damage control.  We need a safe-ride program that people will actually use.

I chose this topic first and foremost because it’s an issue everyone can relate to regardless of their age, gender, or personal lifestyle choices.  Drunk driving is more rampant than many like to admit.  In fact, it happens all the time all around us whether we realize it or not.  Someone very close to me (more specifically, my boyfriend, who will kill me if he finds out I’m writing about him) recently got his 2^nd DUI, and I was stunned and disappointed.  We had many arguments about him driving after drinking (none that ended well) and exactly one week after a huge blowout, he called me at 3 in the morning from jail.  Go figure.  I still can’t believe such a bright, intelligent, and rational young man could make such a horrible and foolish decision (again).  The unfortunate reality of the matter is that there are thousands of young adults in this world who are seemingly careless enough to repeat the same mistake. I could kick myself for all the times I’ve gotten into the car with someone who has been drinking.  To date I don’t know one single person that has never driven drunk other than myself.

Two years ago in public speaking I shared a story with the class that my mother shared with me a long time ago.  When my mom was in her twenties, her close friend Ruth was coming home from dinner one night when a drunk driver T-boned the car she was in.  Ruth was decapitated from the impact.  Her husband was left without a wife, her newborn without a mother, and my mom without a best friend.  It frustrates me to think of all the people who have been lost in similar tragedies.  The individuals who I know have more common sense than to drive drunk but do it anyway anger me.  I am also angry at myself for biting my tongue and getting in the car just to avoid conflict often as I have.  People who do not stop drunk drivers are supporting their decision to drive, and that is just as wrong.  I believe I am a credible writer on this topic because I can do a lot of primary research: I know plenty of people who drive under the influence regularly as well as people who have been caught and charged with 1^st and 2^nd DUI offenses, some who have learned their lesson and others who haven’t.  I also understand how just one poor judgment call can shatter a number of lives from listening to various personal experiences.  As a college student, I think I am at the ideal age to get to the bottom of this problem and find out why it still exists in even the most sensible and well-educated communities for young adults.