Tonight has been one of the most bizarre nights of my life, and I experienced something I have never before experienced. I was in a car accident, and the other driver was drunk. I'll start at the beginning...
I was driving through the intersection on Scottsville Rd and Cherry Farm Ln. You know, the one by Zaxby's and the Liquor Store (pay attention to that, it'll come back and be important later)? As I was driving through the intersection, a woman turned left in front of me. I pulled over and turned on my hazards, you know, like you're taught to do. The other woman drove away, to the parking lot of the liquor store. Gabe was in the car with me, and he got out and ran to check on the other woman, because he'd never want anyone to know about it, but he's a big sweetheart. He ran to the other woman, and as he was talking to her, I called the cops (also as you're taught to do, right?). I get off the phone with the cops, and around that time Gabe ran back up to me and told me to call the cops right away because that woman begged him not to and the situation didn't feel right to him. As I was about to call 911 again, a cop showed up. He got out of the car, and I told him the other woman had left, but she hadn't come out of the dead in section yet, so he could still probably catch up with her. Right around that time, she drove back by, and stopped at the red light (shocker). He ran over to her car and eventually got her to stop. He told her to get out of the car, and he called for back up. I then watched both and and the officer that arrived after him administer a sobriety test, handcuff this woman, and put her in the back of the cop car. The officer then came and talked to me, telling me that this woman was over twice the legal limit of how much you can have to drink. He told me that she admitted to pulling out in front of me, and that as soon as we had the car appraised for damages, we could potentially charge her with felon charges.
I'm usually not a revenge person, I like to forgive people. But this woman? I want her punished. This whole situation is so disgusting to me, because not even a month ago a guy that I went to school with was killed by a drunk driver. And I have to wonder, why can't we learn from each other's mistakes? I mean, how can someone who lives in this town and reads the news stories about this kid with his whole life ahead of him being killed by a drunk driver still drink and drive. I mean, really?
The most insane part of all of this is that, as much as she didn't want to get arrested, and she knew it was coming, she STILL went to the liquor store. As much as this whole situation actually disgusts me, my heart actually breaks for this woman. I mean, surely this wasn't a one time thing for her, and it's got to be a drinking problem if she didn't just flee the accident. She was still so desperate to have alcohol that she didn't stick around, which I wouldn't have expected from a drunk person, she still went to get more alcohol. It just makes me so sad for her. I can't imagine living a life where a substance ruled my life in such a way. It breaks my heart that people get so caught up with something that causes them to put their life, and the lives of others in danger.
Honestly, I want this woman to be punished for driving under the influence, putting me, my brother, and anyone else who was on the road tonight in danger. But more than that, I want her to get help. I want her to get out of a cycle where a substance controls her to the point that she feels like she needs to drive, already drunk, to the liquor store to get more alcohol. I can't imagine how truly miserable she must be.
This is a subject that's been weighing heavy on my mind and heart the last couple of weeks, mainly because of what happened to Alex. This is my plea to anyone who may be reading this right now: don't drink and drive. Please. Call a cab, call a friend, call someone. There's no reason to drive under the influence. So please, everyone, stop putting us all in danger (including yourself).
