Tragic_drunk_driving_story
i've done my almost
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,934
Tragic_drunk_driving_story
I drank and did drugs all the time and got behind the wheel. I'm just stating facts as I'm neither bragging nor happy about it.
I started blacking out towards the end of my drinking days and as a result I earned myself two duis and two totalled cars w/ the last wreck finally getting me into AA and sober.
I just read this article on ESPN and it really shook me up.
Man convicted in death of Nick Adenhart sentenced to 51 years to life - ESPN Los Angeles
"but for the Grace of God go i"...
Kjell
I started blacking out towards the end of my drinking days and as a result I earned myself two duis and two totalled cars w/ the last wreck finally getting me into AA and sober.
I just read this article on ESPN and it really shook me up.
Man convicted in death of Nick Adenhart sentenced to 51 years to life - ESPN Los Angeles
"but for the Grace of God go i"...
Kjell
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 2,013
A risk anybody takes when they get behing the wheel of a car when they are over the alcohol limit. Even if you crash and it's genuinely not your fault then you're still going to get shafted for it and have the guilt, but the likelyhood is that it will be your fault as a result of driving impaired through alcohol.
When I lost my driving license then I remember very little about it, if there were pedestrians or cars/motorbikes in my path as I went straight over the junction and into the ditch then I could have quite easily have killed them or myself or seriously injured them. I was drinking home alone too and can vaguely remember the reason for making a decision to get in the car, so trivial really. The policeman even commented on the way out of the station the next morning that they don't get many with such a high alcohol reading, not so young. I got home and cracked 4 Skol supers that were in the fridge...
Peace
When I lost my driving license then I remember very little about it, if there were pedestrians or cars/motorbikes in my path as I went straight over the junction and into the ditch then I could have quite easily have killed them or myself or seriously injured them. I was drinking home alone too and can vaguely remember the reason for making a decision to get in the car, so trivial really. The policeman even commented on the way out of the station the next morning that they don't get many with such a high alcohol reading, not so young. I got home and cracked 4 Skol supers that were in the fridge...
Peace
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Upstate New York
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Kjell - That is chilling. Could've been me. Yet I have spent my whole life being compassionate & kind to everyone. I always got behind the wheel feeling confidant that I was ok & capable of being careful - which obviously was insane. Like Neo, my officer was surprised I was still standing. His exact words: "You're amazingly lucid for a person with a blood alc. level of 3.2". I, too, went home & kept drinking - had to blot out the arrest, didn't I?
Thank you for the reminder K - time dulls our memory of what might have been, but we can't afford to forget where we've come from.
Thank you for the reminder K - time dulls our memory of what might have been, but we can't afford to forget where we've come from.
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
There wasn't much doubt, towards the end anyway, that my future was going to look quite similar to that driver's.
Sobriety is truly a blessing and I'm darn lucky to have dragged into those AA rooms and forced to sit there and listen.
Sobriety is truly a blessing and I'm darn lucky to have dragged into those AA rooms and forced to sit there and listen.
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Sweden
Posts: 1,649
I know that this will come off sounding bizarre and off topic, but the crime of drunk driving can be prevented of course by people not drinking, but also mass transportation options.
Where I live you can get almost anywhere on a train, bus or subway. Friday and Saturday nights the trains and busses and subways are full of drunk people. And I don't mind a bit, in fact I am grateful. I say a little thank you God prayer that all those people are not drunk behind the wheel! There's practically no mass transit options where I come from in the US....it's a shame really.
I wonder if we could ever convince our legislators that many lives could be saved with more mass transit systems in the US?
Where I live you can get almost anywhere on a train, bus or subway. Friday and Saturday nights the trains and busses and subways are full of drunk people. And I don't mind a bit, in fact I am grateful. I say a little thank you God prayer that all those people are not drunk behind the wheel! There's practically no mass transit options where I come from in the US....it's a shame really.
I wonder if we could ever convince our legislators that many lives could be saved with more mass transit systems in the US?
i've done my almost
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,934
Colin Cowherd, an ESPN radio columnist, just spoke about this story.
He said there are over 18 million alcoholics in the U.S. and that comes out to be about 1 in every 18 Americans are alcoholics.
His point was that this is a BIG problem in the U.S. and it's just a tragic by product of the disease and how we view and treat alcohol in this country. It's going to happen again, and again.
One point is that the drunk driver was cited many times for duis, drunken behavior, drugs in the past (he was a habitual alcohol/drug offender), and he never actually followed through on his probation requirements and he never got well.
My story could have been just like this one. I'm so grateful I woke up and got help and I believe it was just in the "nick of time".
He said there are over 18 million alcoholics in the U.S. and that comes out to be about 1 in every 18 Americans are alcoholics.
His point was that this is a BIG problem in the U.S. and it's just a tragic by product of the disease and how we view and treat alcohol in this country. It's going to happen again, and again.
One point is that the drunk driver was cited many times for duis, drunken behavior, drugs in the past (he was a habitual alcohol/drug offender), and he never actually followed through on his probation requirements and he never got well.
My story could have been just like this one. I'm so grateful I woke up and got help and I believe it was just in the "nick of time".
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 2,013
Hi Kjell. I also knew that I had to get sober as it would just be in the "nick of time". I knew that something would happen which would mean I would never get sober as I wouldn't see the point or be able to crawl out of the hole I was in.
Grateful to be sober, Grateful to be an alcoholic.
The reality is that you have to want to get sober more than you want to get f*cked up. You have to be willing to put the work in and you also have to know that you're an alcoholic and that the first drink is the one that does all of the damage. Just my experience of course.
Peace
Grateful to be sober, Grateful to be an alcoholic.
The reality is that you have to want to get sober more than you want to get f*cked up. You have to be willing to put the work in and you also have to know that you're an alcoholic and that the first drink is the one that does all of the damage. Just my experience of course.
Peace
i've done my almost
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 1,934
Originally Posted by littlefish 
I know that this will come off sounding bizarre and off topic, but the crime of drunk driving can be prevented of course by people not drinking, but also mass transportation options.
I wonder if this guy was/is the same?
Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Oxnard (The Nard), CA, USA.
Posts: 13,959
Wile under the influence, better judgment capabilities goes right out the window. Thank goodness being sober I can keep my judgment abilities in tact and not have to face the judgment of the law.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Mckinleyville ca
Posts: 33
i think about these stories all the time. the difference between hitting a telephone pole or a person is all luck. luck that will mean a month behind bars or your life. i would much rather have stiffer penalties for everyone caught drinking and driving such as one offense equals 5 years in prison. i guarantee people would plan their drinking before hand. although i doubt the prison system could take it.
it kind of makes me sad though understandable all the hate towards this guy on espn forums and the like. as most of us here know alcohol is wicked and sometimes sneaks up on the best of us no matter what the intentions. and once your black out drunk, you are pretty much legally insane. cooking a grilled cheese sandwich is hard enough but making rational decisions like driving aren't really calculated.
i thank god that i was lucky enough never to get a dui or accident.
it kind of makes me sad though understandable all the hate towards this guy on espn forums and the like. as most of us here know alcohol is wicked and sometimes sneaks up on the best of us no matter what the intentions. and once your black out drunk, you are pretty much legally insane. cooking a grilled cheese sandwich is hard enough but making rational decisions like driving aren't really calculated.
i thank god that i was lucky enough never to get a dui or accident.
part time member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Michigan
Posts: 2,910
I always wondered why people didn't take taxis when they would drink. But I know now that it is expensive (and there just aren't many around here) and the person really does believe that they are alright. It is sad. I am just greatful that I never hurt anyone while I was being stupid. Be careful during the holiday season..we all know they are out there!
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Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 6,262
Oh God, what a heartbreaking story. Thank God he'll spend the rest of his life in prison, that he won't be able to kill anyone else.
Recently I read that scientists consider alcohol to be the worst drug in the world -- worse than heroin, uppers, downers, meth -- because so many people are hurt by the drug. Family, friends, in this case young lives were taken.
Recently I read that scientists consider alcohol to be the worst drug in the world -- worse than heroin, uppers, downers, meth -- because so many people are hurt by the drug. Family, friends, in this case young lives were taken.
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