As the son of a 24 year police veteran, I have seen the dangers of drinking and driving. Since age 15, I have been on ride outs with my Dad and taken my friends as well. My parents believed in showing me the dangers of drinking and driving before I was behind the wheel.  I have seen the vehicle where two officers were killed by a drunk driver. I have seen firsthand the lives that drinking and driving destroys. Two families lost their husbands and fathers and it should not have ever happened.

This made a huge impression on me before I learned to drive. I realized that lives can be saved by designated driving.  Before I started driving, my parents told me that they will not be mad if my group needed a ride home. They said they would rather get a phone call for me to be picked up, then for me to get into a car with a drunk driver or to drive drunk.

The good news is that my generation has embraced Uber and I believe this is a good deterrent because everyone is using Uber.  It is the cool thing to do and students like it because it is affordable.  As well, on college football travel weekends and Spring Break trips, my friends and I always have a plan. We park the vehicle, put the car keys away and know we will not drive it the entire weekend. We have made this plan because we do not want to harm ourselves or anyone else. We want to have a future.

 Most of my closest friends make good decisions but I have many friends that do not. These students are not mature enough to see the impact of their actions. Some of this is due to their age and some are due to the influence of their parents. My mother tells stories of 50 year old parents saying I can drive home from the restaurant because I only had a few. It infuriates my mother because they think they are above the law or having an accident. There will always be a need for people to educate individuals about the dangers of driving and driving.

Therefore, the school districts, officers and victims must keep taking steps to prevent drinking and driving. This includes discussions with parents, teachers, police officers and even police ride outs. As well, the offenders that speak to school districts do make a difference because they usually look just like your friend or brother. They are not a scary, dangerous criminal. They are normal people that made a poor choice. Also, the victims that speak out about their loss and how one choice changed their life forever. Furthermore, the pretend drunk driving accident scenarios acted out on campus do influence students. When a student sees a bloody student (actor) being carried away in a body bag, students can not erase that visual.

Being the son of a cop and a high school teacher, I am grounded and have learned lessons from many accidents and funerals my father has attended. Although I am not going into criminal justice, I will always be involved with police charities that work toward protecting our citizens from drunk drivers.  As I continue my college experience and then enter the finance world, I know I will be exposed to drinking, parties and so called business dinners that wine and dine. I will always be the designated driver and always watching out for people and their safety. It is a situation that people face every day and as we have seen in media, many people do not watch out for each other and let them drive drunk. I plan to be proactive and watch out for my college friends and for my business associates. I believe it is an issue that everyone must talk about not just the teachers, victims, advocates and the police officers.