Long time readers may remember that I had a close personal experience with the impact of drinking and driving when 16 year old Kelly Tracy was killed two years ago.
I’ve never forgotten that day, and it forever changed the way I think about drinking and driving.
With the holiday season upon us, there will be folks out there who make the choice to get behind the wheel of a car after they’ve been drinking. If a drunk truck driver caused you to have an accident, then you might want to find reputable big rig accident attorneys online that can help make a case for you.
Think about that decision. Think hard. And if you’re fighting a DUI offense, it’s worth getting legal counsel from reputable dui attorneys.
Below is a video done by the Australian city of Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC). It is a montage of 20 years of public service announcements and advertisements they’ve done in an effort to raise awareness and reduce incidents of drunk and inattentive driving. In my humble opinion, we need things like this splayed all over U.S. television and other venues to get people to think about what they do behind the wheel of a car. Drinking, texting, just not paying attention when you’re piloting a couple of thousand pounds of metal down the road makes no sense and are the common causes of rear-end collisions.
Yet people do it. Every. Single. Day. If you’ve been hit by a driver who is drunk or texting, you can contact a car accident lawyer to take legal action.
Watch this video. Share it. Make your teenage drivers watch it. And then think about it when you get behind the wheel after you’ve been drinking.
The four-day Thanksgiving holiday period sees the most overall fatal car crashes according to the information at the Texas car accident homepage, with an average of 416 each year, but New Year’s has the highest percentage of alcohol-impaired traffic deaths, at 43 percent, the NSC says.
Be safe out there.
If ever you find yourself involved in a DUI case, seek help from professional lawyers who specialize in these cases. We recommend that you check out the services that this law group has to offer, they are located in Chicago.
WARNING: This video is powerful, and compelling. It contains some very graphic content.
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
Just posted the same one on Twitter.
Jay, thanks for raising awareness about this during the holiday season. Too many precious lives are lost needlessly by drunk drivers.
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I think there could be a lot more done in society to put a stop to drunk driving. Cheaper and more available public transportation, non profit ferrys, breathalyzer car access, for a couple.
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Jesus, you'll post anything to drive traffic wont you? Where do you get off telling other people how to behave in their private life? Other than piggybacking off a viral video and getting traffic from it, how does posting this help your real estate business? Whats the point?
*sigh*
Dear "Whatever" –
1) I don't get traffic from posting a viral video. It's not like YouTube sends people here.
2) I'm not telling anyone what to do in their private lives. I'm trying to get people to think for a second when they get behind the wheel of a car. Incidentally, your life ceases to become "private" when you drive down the freeway drunk, endangering yourself and everyone else unfortunate to be near you..
3) Posting this doesn't help my real estate business at all. Sometimes there's more to life than business.
4) The point is, if one person thinks about this video and chooses not to drive after they've been drinking then it's well worth the 5 minutes it took to publish it.
Now how about you scurry along and troll somewhere else? Talk about a waste of bandwidth and energy…
Can we hit minus more than once on "whatever"
One of my nieces was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. I think that all cars should be equipped standard with the breathalizer device. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car while drunk is guilty of blantant disregard of human life!
My recent post Such a shame
One of my nieces was killed by a drunk driver a few years ago. I think that all cars should be equipped standard with the breathalizer device. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who gets behind the wheel of a car while drunk is guilty of blantant disregard of human life!
My recent post Such a shame
Marlene – so sorry to hear about your niece. Here's a horrible, but true story — I once watched someone have a kid, somewhere around 10 years old, blow into a cars breathalyzer. Then he drove off with the kid next to him. I followed the guy while talking to 911. Fortunately it didn't take them long to pull him over…
I think people should avoid drive when they are drunk. Many precious lives may be in big danger when a drunk is driving. If a drunk person is driving he/she should be punished .
I never…NEVER drink and drive and it bothers me that so many people go to bars and then drive away in their cars without a thought. There should really be more police DUI check points set up to deter this illegal activity. The person who killed your young friend Kelly was a most selfish individual. I read a couple of your post about her and it is so sad that innocent children's futures are being robbed because some people have no sense of responsibility, or compassion for the safety of others.
My daughter was killed by a drunk driver on March 18, 2009. She was returning from purchasing cleaning supplies for her new apartment at 8 p.m. when she was hit head on by a woman who had just left a bar that served her 7 shots of Vodka in an hour. Erin's life was snatched from her at age 29. Thank you for trying to raise awareness about this deadly problem!
Kathryn – I'm so sorry to hear about Erin. How utterly senseless and tragic.
I truly believe that high schools should teach driver's ed the same as I learned it. Yes, it was the coach or the gym teacher, but I think that teens would receive much better instruction from them than from some parents who are lousy drivers. Also, they should show the graphic videos (actually a movie in my day) that horrified you. It was a version of "Scared Straight" that worked on me ever since I got my license 40 years ago.
Jay…this story can't be told enough times. This video should be mandatory viewing in schools. It only takes a second to change a life forever…if you drink, PLEASE DO NOT drive!
Great post. Too bad it's needed! (but it is)
One of my college degrees was physics and since a young age, I have understood completely what a 4000lb car moving at 70mph can do to whatever it hits.
Also, how tiny the reaction times are.
Also, what it means for a human body (and brain) to go from 70mph (or much less) to ZERO in milliseconds. Nobody realizes this while they are sitting there cruising at 70mph texting on their phones in their little false secure environments.
Anyway – I never drink and drive, text and drive or any of it….and nobody else should either!
Rob McCance in Atlanta
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A very powerful video…
Thanks for sharing..
A fine video, but the comment from Whatever was even more worthwhile. I suppose I get somewhat insulated in my professional life, but that comment was shocking. The privilege of instant mobility has been co-opted as a personal right in the minds of a lot of people. I don’t see anything good coming from a situation in which an impaired person gets behind the wheel of a potential deadly weapon, and it’s disturbing to think that an anonymous troll sees this situation as no big deal or as an unwarranted interference in a personal lifestyle choice.
My wife just reminded me of a former acquaintance who used to say the same thing, and make a habit of driving drunk late at night. That former acquaintance, who has never had a drunk driving accident, also claims it’s no big deal. But all it takes is one, right? A fine website, Jay.
Great post. Here in Malibu we have Hwy 1 or Pacific Coast Highway and it seems to attract a fair share of drunk drivers. I got so frustrated years ago seeing drunks swerving in front of me that I programmed the local sheriffs number in to my cell phone. My rule is that if I see a car go over the lane dividers more that 3 times I call the sheriff. Several times in the last year I’ve seen the people get pulled over within 5 minutes. So do yourself a favor….program that number and don’t be afraid to use it. You might be saving someones life…even the drunk drivers.