Drinking and Driving (Graphic)

[Keith]

Near to the door he paused to stand
as he took his class ring off her hand
all who were watching did not speak
as a silent tear ran down his cheek
and through his mind the memories ran
of the moments they walked
and ran in the sand (hand and hand)
but now her eyes were so terribly cold
for he would never again have her to hold
they watched in silence as he bent near
and whispered the words,
"I LOVE YOU" in her ear.



He touched her face and started to cry
as he put on his ring and wanted to die
and just then the wind began to blow
as they lowered her casket into the snow...
this is what happens to man alive.....
when friends let friends....
drink and drive.

STORIES...........................................

They thought that they would live to see another day

7 years ago my family and I got the tragic news that my cousin and two of his friends were killed immediately after slamming into a tree. They all were at the young age of 21 and they thought that they would live to see another day. What do you think was flashing through their heads the last 60 seconds of their life. The wreck was a result of them drinking and driving and not thinking that it couldn't happen to them. So please think about what really could happen to you if you drink and drive.

In loving memory of Shane White, Jason Riddle, and Mike Spires.



Drinking and driving



My friend's brother was at a birthday party recently he had a few drinks but thought he was OK to drive home, it was awful, his parents called all of us and asked us to visit him in hospital, and he was in a coma. They wanted to show us what would happen if we had of been in the car. They say he has a good chance of recovering but his brain may not be quite right afterwards. I have never felt so scared and now I don't know what to do as my boyfriend drinks then drives. What am I supposed to stay to get him to stop, he might dump me for being a wimp. I don't want to end up like my brothers friend.


It's not just your life

three years ago I stood at a 6 feet deep dark hole in the ground, and thought to myself what was i doing here?? Until I looked up and seen my friends parents and the rest of my class mates and community of friends. what was going on? two of my friends had been out on the town one night 30 miles from their home, they had being chatting up two girls and thought that they had "scored" one of them bravely thought lets get a taxi home and so they did! But it wasn't to go home to bed and sleep the alcohol off but to go home and get his car and drive back to where they had met the two girls! As you read in the beginning and know they never made it, they took a corner too long and smashed into a tree killing both of them. this is just a note to say it don't happen to one in a million it could happen to any one of us. I have lost more than ten friends since my 10th birthday i just thank god i'm still alive so think before you drink and drive, it may not only be your live your taking but someone else's too!!!


STATISTICS:
Alcohol, even ingested in small quantities, affects the way people drive. The risk of being involved in a car crash increases as the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rises. In fact, if you drink and drive with a BAC bigger than 80mg per 100ml, you are exposing yourself 3 times more to being involved in a crash than a sober driver.

If you think that driving drunk is a minor concern, take a look at some drinking and driving statistics and you may never combine those two again.

It's worth noting that these statistics are representative of the US population and refer mainly to the year 2003 when an estimated 17,013 people died in alcohol-related traffic crashes, an average of one death every 31 minutes!

Age

This factor plays an important role in the way people drink and drive and this information about drinking and driving shows its importance. Overall, young people are at the highest risk of driving drunk and getting involved in a car accident.

• Young drivers, and especially, young white males, cause a large share of the alcohol-crash problem;
• Young drivers between with ages between 15 and 20 years old are more often involved in alcohol-related crashes than any other age group;
• Motor crashes are the leading cause of death for people from 15 to 20 years old;
• In 2003 only 5% of drivers over the age of 70 have been involved in a crash while driving intoxicated. This population has in general the smallest likelihood to be intoxicated (BAC of 0.08 g/dl or greater) in fatal crashes.

Gender

It's a known fact that men are consistently more likely than women to be driving at the time of a fatal crash.

• Male drivers involved in fatal crashes were twice as likely to have been intoxicated than female drivers;
• In 2003, 28% of the young male drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking at the time of the crash, compared with 13% of the young female drivers involved in fatal crashes;
• The intoxication rates (those over 0.08 BAC) for male drivers involved in fatal crashes were 25%, compared with 12% for female drivers;
• Overall, young drivers, and especially, young white males are responsible for a large share of the alcohol-crash problem.

Blood alcohol concentration

BAC represents the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream as you drink. BAC is calculated by determining how many milligrams of ethanol are present in 100 milliliters of blood.

• 0.02 BAC affects driving ability and crash likelihood. The risk of a motor crash is significantly big at 0.05 BAC and rises fast after 0.08 BAC ;
• at 0.08 BAC, virtually all drivers are impaired, which includes critical driving tasks such as divided attention, reaction time, steering, observing traffic signs and judgment in general;
• In 2003, 34% of all traffic fatalities occurred in crashes in which at least one driver or nonoccupant had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or greater;
• From 83% of driving age who have heard of BAC levels, only 27% can correctly identify the legal BAC limit for their state;
• In states where the legal limit of BAC has changed from 0.01 to 0.08, alcohol-related fatalities have reduced with almost 7%;
• If every state would have a 0.08 BAC law, then 400 to 600 lives would be saved each year.

Population

• A recent study reflected 12.9% of Caucasian high school students drive after drinking alcohol, compared to 11.7% for Hispanic and 9.1% for African Americans;
• In 2002, Caucasians were more likely than any other race/ethnicity group to report drinking; in opposition, the Asians had the lowest drinking rate;
• Native Americans have a rate of arrest for alcohol violations more than double the national rate; arrests of Native Americans under the age of 18 for alcohol-related violations are also twice the national average;
• Fatally injured African Americans are less likely to wear a belt at the time of the crash than are Caucasian Americans;
• The Hispanic children ages 5-12 have the highest risk (72%) to die in a motor vehicle crash than non-Hispanic children;
• In a recent survey, Hispanic students (38.3%) were significantly more likely than Caucasian students (30.2%) to have ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol.

http://www.everettanalyzers.com/drin...tatistics.html


Please do not drink and drive over this holiday weekend.

[Karried]

Keith, my cousin just got a phone call that her lifelong best friend and two year old daughter were killed in North Carolina on Christmas day - her 10 year old son is in critical condition and doesn't yet know his mom and sister are gone. They were hit by a drunk driver and her sister was driving behind her saw the whole thing.

What a great reminder to never, ever drive after drinking.