Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs are both major causes of preventable deaths in this country. If it’s preventable, why does it continue to happen? Here’s a few examples of the way people think:
     “I’m not that drunk” … Even a little alcohol effects your ability to drive. You may not notice the effects, but they’re there.
     “I’m a safe driver even after I’ve had a few” … Just because you‘ve never had an accident after having a few drinks doesn‘t mean you’re a safe driver. Most people who think this way just can‘t remember the close calls or they blame the other driver for them.
     “It happens to other people, but it’ll never happen to me” … Never is a very long time. Sooner or later, it’s going to catch up to you. I can almost guarantee that every driver who’s ever been in an alcohol related accident said exactly the same thing.
     “They took my license, but I can still drive my car” … Unless the person learns from having their license revoked or by being involved in accident, they’re going to drive even if they don’t have a license.
     “I’ve only had a few beers, but my buddies were drinking the hard stuff” … Too much beer is just as dangerous as to much hard liquor.

     No one can scare you into not driving under the influence, but here are some statistics. In 2006, there were 43,532 car crash fatalities. Of those, 15,839 or 37% of the fatalities were either drunk drivers or innocent victims of people driving under the influence. Teenagers are more likely to be involved in alcohol related car wrecks. Approximately 60% of all teen deaths on the road are caused by alcohol. The type of alcohol also effects the accident rates. Contrary to popular belief, beer is the beverage most likely to be the cause of the accident. Beer is involved 80% of the time; whereas other types of alcohol are involved in only 20% of the accidents. A life is lost every 30 minutes in alcohol related car crashes.

     The pictures on this page show the results of drinking and driving. In these cases, someone died. In some, it was the drunk driver; in others, it was the innocent, sober driver or passengers. Most of the drunk drivers probably thought to themselves “It won’t happen to me” or “I’m not that drunk”. It can’t be said enough … if you’re going to drink, even a little, don’t drive. Save a life! It may just be your own.