subject: Driving While Under The Influence [print this page] In fact, there are a lot of people who live their lives this way, and normally it wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that college kids are notorious for drinking while driving.
Perhaps it's the fact that they are trying to show off to their friends, or perhaps it's the fact that college kids are nave or think that they are more responsible than they are, but one thing is for sure: drinking and driving is not only dangerous, it is reckless and can get someone hurt. One incident with drinking and driving that I remember vividly occurred not when I was in college; but rather, it occurred after college when I was in the police academy. I had agreed to meet up with a couple of my other fellow academy friends at a local bar in the downtown area. I didn't drink anything, but I observed how all of the people that I was with were drinking. We then left this bar and headed out to a local nightclub. It was somewhere around 11:30 at night and the night was just getting started as people began to make their way to the dance floor.
While we were at the club, I noticed that one of my friends and his cousin were drinking even more. In fact, they had ordered a round of shots for everyone. I glanced down at my watch because I knew that the club was going to be closing in a couple of hours. I also knew that my friend and his cousin had driven themselves to this dance club. I started to worry. A few hours later, the bartender called out the last call, and my friend (who was already intoxicated), went up to the bar and bought another round of shots. I couldn't believe it. At that point, I figured that he would naturally be calling a cab in order to get home.
As the group of us left the club, I started to head towards the curb to wait for our designated driver to come and pick us up. I turned to my other friend and his cousin (who were both extremely intoxicated) and asked how they were getting home and/or if they needed a ride. That's when they insisted that they had driven themselves and were totally fine getting home. Appalled at the fact that they would even suggest such a thing, I looked back to my designated driver, who had already arrived. He shrugged his shoulders. I was disgusted. I offered to drive my intoxicated academy friend back to his apartment if he could just give me directions on where he lived. However, when I asked for the keys to his car, he refused to give them to me, exclaiming that he and his cousin were fine to drive and that they had driven home like this plenty of times before. At that point, my designated driver and other friends (all of whom were police officers) pulled me into the car and told me to just let them go. That night, I couldn't sleep. The next day, I called to make sure that our friend had made it home safe, which he had, but I will never forgive myself for not being more forceful and simply driving them home.
