Kristen and I live about 9 minutes away from church, door to door. On a normal day, maybe we would see... actually, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a couple cars, perhaps en route to various churches, or people attempting to get fresh produce from Giant (sorry, there is no trendy Trader Joes around here to reference).
But not today.
Today, we were still in our neighborhood and have not been driving for more than 2 minutes before we saw this on the side of the road:
Some crack investigation lead us to the conclusion that the vehicle was parked on the street, was slammed into from behind by probably a drunk or asleep driver early New Years morning, and was sent fishtailing counterclockwise 110 degrees into the lamppost.
I hope everyone was safely tucked into their beds when this occurred. I hope no kids were walking along the road when this happened. I hope no one was hurt.
Now, we haven't been driving for more than 4 more minutes, as we slow to a red light at the intersection of Potomac View Road and Route 7. Across the street, we see another vehicle with an obliterated back end, spun, again, counterclockwise into a pole. A black SUV sits facing us from across the road with a completely smashed front end, looking guilty and stupid. Glass and gasoline have sprayed across all 3 lanes and cops are working to get it cleaned up.
I hope everyone was wearing their seatbelt. I hope no one was walking in the crosswalk. Again, I hope no one was hurt.
As if we hadn't had enough reminders in the 6 minutes we had been driving of how absolutely brainless it is to drive drunk, or sleepy, even when you think you are cool enough or "pro" enough to handle it, there is still yet another situation unfolding.
As we approach Cascades Parkway on Route 7, we look over into the car to the left and the driver has his head tilted backward and is starting at the ceiling. For some reason he hasn't begun to drift into our lane, but we are just watching him, in shock, for at least 4 seconds. He stares at the ceiling, either in complete slumber, or some combination of being hungover and tired.
I lay on the horn for 3-4 seconds, just to make sure he gets what is going on. At first, it was for safety. But since he was jarred awake around the 2 second mark, there was certainly 1-2 seconds worth of horn abuse aimed directly at him. It was the least I could do.
His head rolled forward like a zombie. He looked at his passenger-side mirror and seemed to have some sort of recollection of a horn beeping, but turned his head forward again and kept driving. I'm almost positive he didn't even realize he fell asleep.
By the way, if you see "Golf 84" or "48" or whatever it was on the road, make sure to double check and make sure he isn't catching up on some sleep at 51mph.
2 wrecks, and 1 wreck-to-be on a 9 minute, 5 mile drive to church-- a drive that typically boasts, at worst, someone changing lanes without using a turn signal.
People need to get a clue. Thousands of people are killed each year from idiots who think they are fine to drive and are really tired and/or drunk. You are not the exception to the videos you saw in high school of the crazy drunk driving car wrecks... you know, the one of the guy who drove into oncoming traffic and decapitated an entire family.
It is you.
No one accidentally drives drunk. It's a decision, and a poor one. If you are going to put yourself in a situation where you are going to drop your guard and be prone to wretched decisions, have the maturity and the foresight to transfer your keys to a responsible person before you drink anything.
I'm amazed we haven't laid down stricter laws for drunk driving. I'm amazed that so many people get a couple hours of community service and a couple thousand dollar fine, and move on and do it again. For some people around here, it's pocket change and a minor inconvenience.
Loudoun County offers free cab service on New Years Eve, which is awesome; but the people calling for these cabs aren't the people who crashed the aforementioned vehicles. They are the people who are already mature enough to arrange a safe ride, even if a free cab service wasn't available.
We can set up as many checkpoints as we want (except we really can't since no one has any money these days). We can put as many PSAs on the radio with Sheriff John Bunnell from World's Scariest Police Chases telling us in an enthralling voice that a DUI equals hefty fines and oh no.... POINTS!
But couldn't we skip all this if getting caught while driving under the influence landed you a $50,000 fine and loss of your license for 5 years? Couldn't we skip all this if second offenses always came with a $100,000 fine, 2 year minimum jail sentence, and 10 years without your license?
Do you think we would have such a big problem if a DUI conviction immediately bankrupted you?
What do you think busy, wealthy Americans would do if both their time and their money were jeopardized? Would change at least come with the threat of socially and financially devastating punishments?
Who knows? Maybe the irony would no longer be lost and even the most selfish people would start to agree that driving drunk wasn't even in their best interest.
Maybe you're reading this and thinking I'm being over the top. But ask the family that lost their son, daughter, mom, cousin, or friend, to an accident that could have easily been avoided, and see if they think this sounds over the top.
I guess I was just disappointed to see such cliched and unfortunate situations on the road in such a short period of time on the morning of New Years Day.
What a bad way to bring in the new year.
What a embarrassing way to show the world what you're made of on the one day of the year in which the world wants to know what you're going to do with yourself this year.
Let's do better this year. Let's think of others and put them before ourselves. I know I have so much room to grow in this area. I'm still trying to get better at it.
I just encourage you not to live this year like you can control whether or not it is your last.
You really just... can't.
But not today.
Today, we were still in our neighborhood and have not been driving for more than 2 minutes before we saw this on the side of the road:
Some crack investigation lead us to the conclusion that the vehicle was parked on the street, was slammed into from behind by probably a drunk or asleep driver early New Years morning, and was sent fishtailing counterclockwise 110 degrees into the lamppost.
I hope everyone was safely tucked into their beds when this occurred. I hope no kids were walking along the road when this happened. I hope no one was hurt.
Now, we haven't been driving for more than 4 more minutes, as we slow to a red light at the intersection of Potomac View Road and Route 7. Across the street, we see another vehicle with an obliterated back end, spun, again, counterclockwise into a pole. A black SUV sits facing us from across the road with a completely smashed front end, looking guilty and stupid. Glass and gasoline have sprayed across all 3 lanes and cops are working to get it cleaned up.
I hope everyone was wearing their seatbelt. I hope no one was walking in the crosswalk. Again, I hope no one was hurt.
As if we hadn't had enough reminders in the 6 minutes we had been driving of how absolutely brainless it is to drive drunk, or sleepy, even when you think you are cool enough or "pro" enough to handle it, there is still yet another situation unfolding.
As we approach Cascades Parkway on Route 7, we look over into the car to the left and the driver has his head tilted backward and is starting at the ceiling. For some reason he hasn't begun to drift into our lane, but we are just watching him, in shock, for at least 4 seconds. He stares at the ceiling, either in complete slumber, or some combination of being hungover and tired.
I lay on the horn for 3-4 seconds, just to make sure he gets what is going on. At first, it was for safety. But since he was jarred awake around the 2 second mark, there was certainly 1-2 seconds worth of horn abuse aimed directly at him. It was the least I could do.
His head rolled forward like a zombie. He looked at his passenger-side mirror and seemed to have some sort of recollection of a horn beeping, but turned his head forward again and kept driving. I'm almost positive he didn't even realize he fell asleep.
By the way, if you see "Golf 84" or "48" or whatever it was on the road, make sure to double check and make sure he isn't catching up on some sleep at 51mph.
2 wrecks, and 1 wreck-to-be on a 9 minute, 5 mile drive to church-- a drive that typically boasts, at worst, someone changing lanes without using a turn signal.
People need to get a clue. Thousands of people are killed each year from idiots who think they are fine to drive and are really tired and/or drunk. You are not the exception to the videos you saw in high school of the crazy drunk driving car wrecks... you know, the one of the guy who drove into oncoming traffic and decapitated an entire family.
It is you.
No one accidentally drives drunk. It's a decision, and a poor one. If you are going to put yourself in a situation where you are going to drop your guard and be prone to wretched decisions, have the maturity and the foresight to transfer your keys to a responsible person before you drink anything.
I'm amazed we haven't laid down stricter laws for drunk driving. I'm amazed that so many people get a couple hours of community service and a couple thousand dollar fine, and move on and do it again. For some people around here, it's pocket change and a minor inconvenience.
Loudoun County offers free cab service on New Years Eve, which is awesome; but the people calling for these cabs aren't the people who crashed the aforementioned vehicles. They are the people who are already mature enough to arrange a safe ride, even if a free cab service wasn't available.
But couldn't we skip all this if getting caught while driving under the influence landed you a $50,000 fine and loss of your license for 5 years? Couldn't we skip all this if second offenses always came with a $100,000 fine, 2 year minimum jail sentence, and 10 years without your license?
Do you think we would have such a big problem if a DUI conviction immediately bankrupted you?
What do you think busy, wealthy Americans would do if both their time and their money were jeopardized? Would change at least come with the threat of socially and financially devastating punishments?
Who knows? Maybe the irony would no longer be lost and even the most selfish people would start to agree that driving drunk wasn't even in their best interest.
Maybe you're reading this and thinking I'm being over the top. But ask the family that lost their son, daughter, mom, cousin, or friend, to an accident that could have easily been avoided, and see if they think this sounds over the top.
I guess I was just disappointed to see such cliched and unfortunate situations on the road in such a short period of time on the morning of New Years Day.
What a bad way to bring in the new year.
What a embarrassing way to show the world what you're made of on the one day of the year in which the world wants to know what you're going to do with yourself this year.
Let's do better this year. Let's think of others and put them before ourselves. I know I have so much room to grow in this area. I'm still trying to get better at it.
I just encourage you not to live this year like you can control whether or not it is your last.
You really just... can't.
"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”" -- James 4:13-15
No comments:
Post a Comment