Essay 3.3 Narrative

Just Put the Keys Down

Crash. Thought many miles away I could feel the impact at home. On Halloween of 2006 I lost my Superman, my brother. I was over at a friend’s house that night, while my brother off to college. There is a soft knock at the door, definitely not a trick-or-treater, and my mother walks in. My eyes meet hers, my heart drops. Those three small words, those three small words repeat in my head over and over again, “Todd is dead.” I stood there, silent. My feet felt like cement, my eyes watering, and my mind racing. My world had just been turned upside down. Though standing still, I could feel my body in a whirlwind, my heart dropping faster than an atomic bomb then when I reached rock bottom…boom. I broke down, I didn’t know what else to do? I keep asking her if this is real and all she can do is stare at me, her eyes just as red as mine. What do you say after you find out that your brother was killed my a drunk driver? You don’t say anything, you just hear silence.

I cannot remember anything else from that night before my mother walked into that door with the news that could kill. My parents told me that I needed to stay home while they go off to West Virginia to deal with the funeral. I was furious. How could they not realize that I want to be able to say goodbye? To this day I still wish I could have said my final goodbye, but it is something that I can never give. I stayed with my friend for a week; it was the longest week of my life. I dreaded going to school, seeing everyone who seemed like nothing was wrong, treading along as if the world was still in order. Of course I was quiet, not speaking to anyone. I was dying inside, struggling to hold in my anger, my sadness.

Eventually my mind began to settle, the tornado of emotions withered away. Though that stormed had settled, my heart could still feel the strike of the girl who took my brother away, the girl who decided to have one too many drinks, the girl who should have never gotten in the car. My brother was the designated driver that night, being responsible and taking care of his friends, why was he the one who had to suffer the consequences of someone else’s thoughtless actions? Sadly enough he is not the only person that has been tragically taken away by people who make bad decisions. In 2008 approximately 11,773 people were killed due to “alcohol-impaired traffic crashes” (MADD). Out of those 11,773 one of them has to be someone’s brother, someone’s son, someone’s best friend lost in something that could have been avoided. To think that my brother could still be alive if that girl, Amber, would have had the common sense to put the keys down. It is as simple as that, just put the keys down. However that thought was lost.

Now in college, I fear the same outcome. Halloween is a night that will always haunt me, not because of the monsters in masks, but the monsters inside people. I fear not only for my safety, but also for the safety of others. Seeing as my brother was taken away from me his freshman year of college, it is only natural that I begin to lose myself. I thought that after so many years, I was done with the grieving and all its stages. I was wrong. The night tormented me and tore me apart. I didn’t want to leave my dorm, but I did. Every second I was near a moving vehicle I quivered in pain, I thought I was going insane, my body ached and I couldn’t move. However I was not crazy at all, this was normal. I felt as if my body was giving up, I couldn’t go on. I see everyone drinking and having a good time, while me on the other hand was worried the whole time. I was worried that my friend was going to walk out and a car come out of nowhere, hitting them. I worried that one of them would just get into a car a go, thinking that they were invincible but find out the opposite. The whole time I just wanted my brother back, hoping that I would see him walk into the door, give me a big hug and have a good time. That never happened.

When I hear accounts of people who drink and drive and I want to slap them across the face. They don’t realize the harm that it can cause; how even the family’s who lose someone they love are still a victim. Those who act as a victim due to the lose that they have received; they are considered a Bereaved Victim. Due to the sudden loss in their life they have to “play the role of the victim in the name of the deceased,” (Weed, p. 461). This shows people the pain that family and friends go through. Along with that they can share the knowledge of what harm can actually be done due to drunk driving. How else are people going to realize that actions taken by drunk drivers hurt not only the one’s in the accident, but the one’s who love them? They can’t. They have no experience or knowledge in such areas. It is up those that have been hurt by their loss to speak for those you are unable to speak for them self, those killed by drunk drivers.

There is a need for more to be done for the people who have lost loved ones. Numerous things can be done to prevent such drastic measures like taking a life away. There needs to be a zero tolerance rule all across the nation, no exceptions. The girl that crashed into my brother was underage and intoxicated. Any signs of alcohol in a person’s system that is above 0.08% BAC is an immediate misdemeanor, nothing less. Some believe that lowering the BAC level for drinking would help and I would highly agree to this, such actions would help keep our road safer from drunk drivers.

However there is another factor that some would over look due to the natural trust in our law enforcement. The police officer that got the call of the crash got to the site immediately. What shocked my family and I the most was that he did not take a Breathalyzer from the girl or retrieve and hair sample to check for any signs of intoxication? His reasoning for not doing so was that he had no reason to; he saw no evidence to show that there was anything in her system. Really, nothing at all could possibly be in her system? It was only until 2 hours later that another officer Breathalyzed her and found that she was still very intoxicated. The issue with this is that what if that second officer would have never taken that test, Amber would have gotten away is a slap on the wrist. Is that something that you want to be done if a careless person took your brother or sister away? I don’t think so. A solution to this simple yet complicated problem is to make Breathalyzers and hair sample tests a requirement to take in any accident so that justice may be served.

Another option would be sobriety checkpoints along all roads that can randomly check people at any given time. This would make drivers realize that there is a higher risk for them getting caught drinking and driving than that if there was not a checkpoint. There have been studies that prove that sobriety check points do in fact help to reduce the amount of alcohol related accidents (injury). If this were to be implemented then another young man’s life could be saved from a person who made a poor decision.

Due to the lack of concern from people with lack of information, it is up to those hurt to tell their story. Whether it be Mothers Against Drunk Driving or another activist program, anything to get the word out helps. Sadly enough, even that does not make many people listen. Sometimes it takes an actual account to happen to them or to someone they know and/or love to understand. It is a disappointment when people realize that it is already too late to do something, because it is never too late. Though you or anyone else may not have been able to save someone already effect by such accidents, you can still help to make a difference in the future. There are many options out there that you can do to help prevent a severe injury or worse, death cause by alcohol. It is never too late to try to save a life.

Works Cited

"The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training on the Grieving Process and Emotional Well-Being of Chronic Pain Patients." Journal Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings 11.4 (2008): n. pag. Web. 15 Apr 2010.

"Statistics." MADD: Activism, Victim Services, and Education. MADD, 2009. Web. 15 Apr 2010.

Weed, Frank J. "The Victim-Activist Role in the Anti-Drunk Driving Movement." Sociological Quarterly 31.3 (1990): 459-73. Web. 15 Apr 2010.

"Injury Prevention & Control Motor Vehicle Safety: Impaired Driving." Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 22 April 2010. Web. April 28 2010.