If you have considered driving under the influence or if you are still doing it, maybe it would be best for you to read some first hand stories from those of us who have been involved in an accident and how it has changed our lives, or a story from those of use who has lost a loved one from a drunk driver. Or even how about from the officers and the ambulance personnel, who had to go to the scene the hospital workers who had to work hard to save the life because of you, or from the person who had to be the one that went to notify the next of kin. Do you then think maybe you could do the cool thing and get a Designated Driver if you drink? Let me start off by telling you my story.

In the 1980's my sister was 18. She was out with her boyfriend about 9:30 on a Thursday night they were 3 miles from home when they were hit by a drunk driver. The driver ran the red light never even slowing down. My sister's boyfriend was killed instantly; they had to use the Jaws of Life to extract him from the car. My sister was flown to the hospital by helicopter where they performed surgery to keep her alive. She was in intensive care for 5 days when they finally told us there was no hope. She died 6 days after the accident. She was just a few weeks into her 18^th year of life and in a second it was taken away from her. She was in the prime of her life. Her boyfriend had multiple broken bones, back was broken, neck, and it had to be a closed casket because of his injuries. My sister did have an opened casket, but it didn't really look like her because she was swollen up from the accident. There was so much makeup on her to cover the bruises, and the cuts and gashes on her face that we had to put a picture of her beside the casket so people knew it was her.

Oh, the driver that was intoxicated that caused the accident. He got out without a scratch. Seems he was too intoxicated to know he had even hit someone.

Other students at my school which is a small town also lost their lives due to drunk driving. They were all teenagers just having a great time. Funny the one that got killed weren't even driving. They were with friends out drinking and were passengers and one that got killed wasn't even in a car, he was outside mowing his yard when he got hit by a drunk driver.

An acquaintance of the family has been in a wheel chair for 20 years. She was hit by a drunk driver, she had 3 small children at home when the accident happened. She was on her way home from work when she was hit. Rehabilitation and hospital stays took many months of time she should have been enjoying with her family, instead she was in the ICU unit learning how to breathe without the respirator. Then months at rehabilitation center learning how to think, and operate while being paralyzed from the waist down. She has to wear a back brace at all times and uses the bathroom via plastic bags attached to the sides of her body.

Oh, the drunk driver which caused that accident- no reported injuries.

That is my story. How about some stories from others -

Want to read their stories about how a drunk driver changed their lives?

To learn more about victims stories go and search by your state at MADD See how many people were affected in your state. You may even find several people that you know.

Go to http://www.madd.org/ Mothers against Drunk drivers. There are many stories there. Mothers against Drunk Drivers was started by Candy Lightner after a drunk driver killed her daughter.

Looking over the websites, there are many stories about tragedies from drunk drivers, you see them every day in your local newspaper how someone got killed from a drunk driver, or someone got pulled over for having a blood alcohol level higher than the state laws allow. We have become immune to the tragedies of these people getting killed and crippled for life because someone decided to drink and drive. The laws will allow many of these people to spend some time in jail then go back to their lives again the family who they brought these pains to may never be normal again.

Road Block check points only catch a fraction of drunk drivers. There are still many more on the road. People who chose to drink and drive knowing this is wrong.

A person who shoots someone with a gun gets heavier sentences than a drunk driver usually does. It's about the same crime. They are using their cars instead of a gun, but the results still could be the same. They need to toughen the laws for drunk drivers. It's NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE to drink and drive. Just as it's no longer acceptable for people to take a gun and shoot someone.

Taking away someone's driver's license isn't solving the problem. Many people know that you don't need a driver's license to drive a car all you need is a key to get it started. Then some states will give you driving privileges to drive even after you have been convicted for drunk driving........ Would they consider giving the gun permit back to the person who killed someone? Probably not cause the person who killed someone with the gun would be in jail. Why the double standards?

With summer coming more and more people will be drinking and driving and your risk of getting injured by one of these drivers' increases. Well hell, anytime of the year could be a time of year that you are involved in a drunken driving accident. There is no pattern to when these will occur. You may be coming home from work, Church, or giving birth to a new family member when it could happen to you.