What are the dangers of drinking and driving? Well, listen to my story about the night I got totally wasted and see for yourself if you still want to drink at that party and drive home because you think you can drive drunk.
Just Another Party Night
I thought I was just another one of those people who could drink and get home just fine without having to worry about anything but puking the next morning. Late last year (2023), I was on my way to a local college town to drink with my friends, where I thought it would just be another normal party night. As the night went on, I met up with my friends, and we started drinking and getting hammered.
Oh yeah, we were having the best time of our lives with hot chicks, so much alcohol, and sex! We started doing drinking games and getting even more f*cked up! As time went on, this girl was flirting with me, so I had to take my own measures in the situation and b*ned her. Hours later, we pulled up at this house party, got even more drunk, and started partying with other people.
Now, I’m Hammered
By the end of the night, I am f*cked up, and now I want to go home because I don’t want to sleep at a random person’s house. I took one more pull out of this bottle, and I left the house. Way bad move! Way bad. Smart guys have a plan. I was not smart.
So I started my car and began to drive home. At this point, I was completely hammered, but I thought I was fine because I was drunk, and my mind was telling me, ‘you got this!’ Just 20 more minutes, and you’re home! But nope, I take a left turn on the highway, and I believe I’m westbound, except I’m going eastbound. Not only that, but I was on the wrong side of the road, speeding, swerving, and almost ending up endangering someone else’s life and my own.
Red and Blue Lights
Next thing you know, I see the red and blue lights behind me, and I came to a stop. I’m freaking out, panicking like ‘holy shit.’ I can’t believe I’m getting pulled over right now! My nerves are shaking, my heart is racing, and I just don’t know what to do. The cop gets out of his car, tells me to get out, and asks if I’ve been drinking.
My dumbass says, ‘no,’ I’m just on my way home. I don’t know what the big deal is. He goes, “Bud, you’re on the wrong side of the road; you are definitely drunk.” At first, I was confused, but then I looked at the highway and was like, “Ohhh shit, I am on the wrong side.” So I told him, “Yeah, officer, I’m drunk as shit right now. I’m sorry.”
So now he pulls me out of the car to do the sobriety tests, and while I’m doing them, I’m thinking to myself, “I got this; this is easy; he’ll just let me go back to driving.” Well, that was not the case. He says, “Yep, you’re going to jail.” I’m like, ‘F*ck!’ So now I am even more nervous because I don’t know what to say or how to tell my parents that I am in jail! So the officer took me to the jail, and now I am waiting for the paperwork, totally regretting the decision I made to drive home.
The Jail Cell
Thirty minutes later, I’m sitting in a cell, thinking about the whole scenario, wishing I could take it all back. A million different thoughts are flowing through my head. I’m scared, anxious, and in disbelief. I’m in there, just thinking about it all, and I decide I’m just going to go to sleep and hopefully wake up that this was a dream and not real.
The morning comes, and yep, it’s real as hell. I have to call my parents and tell them I’m in jail and have them come and get me. As they arrive, I come out of the cell, and the sheriff walks me down to where they are, and at this point, I’m still buzzed! The look on their faces was just pure disappointment. After that, I thought to myself, wow, I made the wrong decision last night. It’s gonna cost me big time.
The Judge
As time went on, my court date is today, and I am more nervous than ever. I don’t know what the judge is going to say. Hopefully, he lets me off the hook. I told myself the judge wasn’t going to go hard on me. I’m just a 21-year-old who made one mistake, and I have had no other problems with the law. I am going to be fine.
Moments later, the judge tells me I have to pay a huge pile of fines, I need to go to alcohol rehabilitation, spend two days in jail, be on probation, and the DUI stays on my record for 12 years!
That judge took it hard on me! I wanted to flip off the judge so bad. I was in disbelief! I can’t believe it! Just because I stupidly decided to drive drunk. Now I have all of this shit I have to do and all the fines and fees I have to pay. But that’s what I get because I wasn’t thinking intelligently at the time. I should have been more aware and just slept at that house.
How stupid am I really? Other thoughts were that I have driven numerous times under the influence and have never gotten caught. I even thought I was a better driver when I was drunk than when I was sober! What a dumbass! So, the judge was hard on me for good reason.
The Aftermath
So, I have found myself arrested on an OWI, and now I have to spend two nights in jail with all the fines/fees and an OWI on my record for 12 years! I cost myself all of this damage because I ultimately thought I could get drunk and still be able to get home behind the wheel. Now I have to drive with an Intoxalock on my car for the next 6 months, and I’m on probation for a year. All because I made that decision to drink and drive. Actually, two bad decisions. The first was getting hammered. The next was driving drunk.
Yet, without this lesson, if I could’ve gone back in time, I would have probably done the same thing! Crazy, right? Of course, if a young drunk person, who still thinks like a teenager, decides to do something, he’s gonna do it! He won’t be thinking of the consequences. Why? Because he’s drunk! But at the end of the day, I’m glad it happened because I am more self-aware of situations now when I have been drinking. First of all, don’t get hammered. But, next time, if I’m in that situation, my mind will go right back to that night, and I’ll have a plan. I’ll know who to call. They say, ‘No?’ Call an Uber. No Uber? Stay where you’re at.
The Lesson
Do not drink and drive. It is not worth it. Have a plan! Know what to do. It’s better to call your parents and tell them you’re drunk than to have to tell them you’re in jail! Just stay at the house you’re at. Call an Uber! There is no need to be drinking and driving because you can kill someone, kill yourself, or see those red and blue lights and end up in jail.
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