Chris Clegg
I stumbled across an article I wrote for High Prairie South Peace News May 19, 2021. A friend of mine picked bottles around High Prairie and the rural area, then sorted them. Of 3,257 bottles picked over a 15-day sample period an astounding 2,385 or 73.23 per cent were alcohol-related.
Not only is that incredible but extremely concerning!
Just how many people are drinking and driving?
I realize this is a very small sample size and far from being scientific. One must also realize not every one of these bottles ran dry from the mouth of a driver. Many were from passengers. Some may have been from some resident tossing trash out the window. Littering is another issue for another column, however.
Also, one would be bordering on an all-expense trip to the rubber room to assume each of these bottles resulted in a drunk-as-a-skunk driver behind the wheel.
Still, if you take all these factors into account, and adjust the numbers to 1,600 bottles or even 1,000 it is still a lot of bottles, a lot of booze and a lot of drivers.
The question we need to ask is why is this happening?
As drivers, are we so comfortable and smug in our assumption an alcohol-related accident will always happen to someone else? Are we so comfortable in the knowledge that such accidents are rare and the chances of it happening to us are slim and next to none?
But . . . they do happen and they are unavoidable.
Whether it be from alcohol or drugs, anyone partaking in such substances runs a higher risk of becoming involved in an accident. Alcohol and/or drugs affects judgement. We all know that. Yet, many still get behind the wheel and drive away.
As humans, we are gifted with the ability to make wise and healthy choices. We are taught from a young age how to make good choices and why to make good choices.
We are bombarded by media with commercials on the perils of drinking and driving. Horrific scenes are used as scare tactics in an attempt to drive the message home, no pun intended. We are shown ambulances attending accident scenes, and scenes at morgues. In advertising, shock value does work!
Law enforcement is watching you. Society increases penalties in hopes of deterring such abhorrent actions. Over time, the higher fines have worked. Compared to 50 years ago, community dances where alcohol was flowing freely have dwindled. People are afraid to take the chance of being caught when driving home. Increased fines, jail sentences, higher insurance rates. Penalties if you are caught are no laughing matter. They affect you for the rest of your life.
It is encouraging to know the vast majority of drivers are responsible. Many only have one or two drinks, others wait a few hours after having a few more to “sober up” a bit before turning the keys in the ignition.
May all of us be responsible! The choice between having even one drink and driving is yours. Please, make the right choice! Avoid being that statistic that ruins lives and families. It is just so easy to say no rather than suffer the consequences. To be responsible for the death of someone from an act so avoidable, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to live with. The fact is, some do not. Many times, alcohol-related deaths ruin more than one family.
Think about those 2,835 bottles! Ask yourself, just how comfortable are you driving down the road knowing how much booze is flowing inside vehicles?
And wondering if that next vehicle is one of those statistics.