One Reckless moment Can Ruin Lives Forever

Dayne Katz-

Accidents caused by driving under the influence, how we can teach young adults to avoid them

I have had my driver’s license for 3.5 years, and I remember when I had to take Drivers Ed on Sundays, and I was not happy about it. At first the classes were mundane, and then the instructor showed us videos of kids who got behind the wheel drunk or drove recklessly and literally killed their friends and went to prison. These stories shook me to the core. But still when you don’t know the people involved as much as it scares you, it does not completely resonate.

About a month after I got my license something happened that had a deep impact on me because I knew the person involved. My grandparents next door neighbor’s 20 year old son was killed in a car accident. When my grandparents first told me they were both devastated and they kept on saying that they knew this boy would never have driven drunk. It turned out that he was a passenger in the car. His friend had a high level of alcohol in his system. I am not here to judge anyone. I know that good people make bad mistakes, but we have to learn from these mistakes. Last night my youngers sister was taking a Zoom class for Drivers Ed and there was a speaker who talked about how he bought a new car and wanted to show it off to his friends. They had all had a “little to drink.” He ended up killing one of his friends and severely injuring the other friend, and they found out that he had been doing 100 mph in a 40 mph zone. This guy went to prison, and now he is trying to find purpose in his life by speaking to kids and telling them don’t make stupid decisions that could destroy not only your life, but the lives of others too. It takes a lot of courage to do what he is doing, and I believe it is the key factor in teaching young adults like me to avoid making these type of fatal mistakes.