Big Fat Liar

Yes, I know I said I would do a Flip On/Off Friday, but I left work early and took a nap. Can you blame me??? You'd do the same thing :)

Today I'm not going to do my challenge, but talk about something that's very important and serious.

Early this morning, I lost yet ANOTHER college friend due to a drunk driving crash. Yes, another. This is the second in two years. He was driving his pickup down a dirt road in Central Montana with seven passengers. Four others were injured and he was the only casualty. Alcohol was a factor. Knowing this person from college, it sadly doesn't surprise me. He and the other person who died 2 years ago were also in the same fraternity as my husband. I knew both of them fairly well and hung out with them often. My question is: How many more times does this have to happen before people get it? One person on Facebook wrote "Why does this keep happening?" I can tell you exactly why it keeps happening. People drink and drive. Simple.

There's also a reason I use the word "crash" instead of "accident." There is nothing accidental about drinking and driving. It is a choice, not an accident.

I'm embarassed to admit that I have done it before. I was in college, and young and VERY dumb. I had the mentality that "it can't happen to me" and that I wouldn't get a Driving Under the Influence ticket. STUPIDEST THING I'VE EVER DONE. As I grew up and matured, I realized how stupid I was to think such a thing and to make such a poor decision.

Part of my job that I get paid to do every day, is to help reduce drinking and driving. I do trainings, media, and different environmental strategies to keep this from happening. It happens WAY too often, and people don't often get it. It CAN happen to you, and sadly, this friend of mine's crash shows that it WILL happen. The sad thing is, I was talking to this friend 2 years ago about the first crash with our friend in it. I told him that alcohol was involved and he adamantly denied it (I happened to know for a fact that it was-I have a friend with insider knowledge). He didn't want to think that our friend could make such a stupid decision to drink and drive, and would get killed doing so. This same friend who was denying this, is the same friend who made that choice last night.

I'm sad, angry, and mostly frustrated. Seriously, how many more people in this same circle of college friends have to die before others stop drinking and driving?

Please...do me a favor and vow to never drink and drive. If a friend needs a ride home, take them home. If someone else needs a ride, call a cab or offer to call a friend (in our case, we don't have cabs where we live). If you need to, call law enforcement to give them a ride home. Do anything you can possibly do to keep this from happening to someone else.