Single Second Decision

Single
Second Decision

In
2012 my life was forever changed by a drunk driver. My aunt and uncle
called and let us know that their second child was just delivered. My
parents and I drove to Cleveland from our home in Decatur to greet
the newborn Keylon to her family. After spending some time with my
new cousin we grew hungry since it was late in the afternoon and we
did not eat due to all the excitement. We decided to go to Fazoli’s.
So we made the short drive from the hospital to Fazoli’s on Paul
Huff. As we were cresting the hill near White Wing I heard a loud
noise and felt my body fling towards the window next to me. I blacked
out for the duration of the chaos but when I snapped to I looked
outside. I saw that our Trailblazer was facing the wrong direction
and there was an upside down Jeep resting on White Wing’s door. I
saw my dad get out and run to the Jeep and my mom looked at me with
panic in her eyes as she told me not to stand up. I was confused and
my head and back were hurting extremely bad so I reached my trembling
hands to my head and felt the warm, sticky blood that was oozing from
an extremely large bump on my head. The ambulances came quickly and
put my parents and I in a stretcher, since they feared our spinal
discs were affected. A helicopter transported the boys in the Jeep to
a hospital. I do not remember which one but I remember one of them
lost their arm as the Jeep rolled. Luckily, my family and I weren’t
badly hurt. I had a severe concussion and my neck was straightened
due to whiplash but my parents fared pretty well other than bruises
and bumps and mild concussions. We later learned that the boys in the
Jeep were going over well 100 mph, when Dad ran to check on them he
smelt alcohol and the police told us that they were intoxicated, we
spun out but somehow Dad kept the car as straight as he could causing
him to break his chair and bend the steering wheel. The Jeep flipped
6 times and both of the boys in it were hospitalized, one losing part
of his hand and the majority of his teeth. We were told that we
should’ve died on impact and I am incredibly grateful that God
protected us. My parents and I were put in physical therapy for 6
months and I still feel the impact of the wreck in my neck and with
PTSD when other cars are going fast around me. I panic and grab
everything around me when we go on the interstate if I am not
driving. My PTSD is not as severe as it used to be, however I still
feel that momentary panic occasionally.

Apps
such as Uber and Lyft are slowly reducing the amount of drunk drivers
on the street. One study announced that alcohol-related car accidents
decreased twenty-five to thirty-five percent in four New York
neighborhoods since Uber was introduced compared to areas without
Uber. Granted more studies need to be done regarding the subject but
having systems ,such as Uber, accessible in a majority of areas
should reduce drunk driving. Furthermore, people that have a DUI on
their record should be admitted to rehab or therapy. Not only would
this help break the dangerous habits, it would also increase their
quality of life.

In
conclusion, DUI’s are a very serious problem in modern society.
They take so many lives and scar so many others but with proper rehab
and modern technology can help curb DUI’s. The people that commit
DUI’s should not be thrown aside by society, instead we should
rally around them, help them recover, and attempt to stop more
needless pain.