Last night was the annual work Christmas party. Considering I wasn't exactly sure if I really wanted to go, the night turned out suprisingly well, until the drive home. My sister, her friend Dennis, and I left about 11:45pm heading back to Ozark to drop Dennis off at home for the night. We get to his house around 12:30am or so, and talk with him and his brother until maybe 1:45am. At this point, we decide we need to start making our way home. We are driving down 105 from Ozark, going towards Skipperville. We get to Noah's Ark Daycare, where we see a red car across our lane sideways, partially in our lane and partially off the side of the road. I'm not exactly sure what he had done previously to get himself in that position, but when we were coming upon him, he was still moving and sliding between the pavement and grass. At this point, is where our vehicles impacted. My side of my sister's truck had the biggest point of impact, and it happened so fast, I honestly don't recall what side of his vehicle we collided. The force of the impact knocked my sister's truck a good way back off the road. Her airbag deployed, and luckily we were both wearing our seatbelts. (We have the nice bruise marks from it to prove so, I might add.) My sister's truck is basically totaled and considering this, we both walked away with minimal injuries. Well, I didn't get to "walk" away. I got to view the inside of an ambulance because my right foot got forced underneath the underside of her way the glove compartment area is, so I couldn't really walk at that point. (Still can't as of right now) So, I get taken to the emergency room to get checked out. Meanwhile, my parents are on their way up to the scene of the accident to get my sister. When they get to the hospital, they tell me what they observed upon arriving to the scene. My stepdad goes on to tell me that the driver of the other car, (I will add here walked away with the least amount of injury) was obviously drinking, or under the influence of some foreign substance. He was attempting to tell the police he was headed to the courthouse, yet couldn't point in the correct direction to save his life. They did a breathalizer and he was at .07, legal limit for Alabama is .08. None the less they did arrest the male, according to my parents. Bringing you back now to the emergency room. I have some x-rays done on my foot and am told its just bruised pretty bad. (2nd opinion to come tomorrow however, if Im still not able to walk on it by that time) So, good news at least. By now, my parents are there with my sister. They move me from the room to the waiting room with my parents, so they can check her out. (Luckily she is just bruised up and sore, no major injuries) So, I'm sitting in the waiting room, my parents are telling me everything that went on when they got to the scene of the accident, and who else gets brought into the emergency room? None other than the guy who caused the accident, being escorted in handcuffs, by a police officer. (Even though at the time the officers questioned him, according to my parents, he said he didn't need to go to the emergency room, on 2 seperate instances.) I'm fairly disgusted at this point, and it was hard watching him sit across the room from me with the smug smirk on his face. Now, two females walk into the emergency room, and go sit by this guy. One of the females was questioning where the accident occured. The guy just kept stating, "I don't know, I'm not familiar with this area." She then asked him if it was in front of the daycare. He again repeated the same thing. She then stated, "you couldn't see if there was a big daycare right in front of you?" The guys reply to this was, "I wasn't paying attention." At which point, I chime into the conversation, and reply, "Obviously!" The guy and female continue talking for a moment, when the guys answer to the accident is, "Don't worry, I was under the legal limit, so it will be thrown out." I was horrified. I'm sitting right here. My mom made it very clear to him and the female I was one of the parties involved in the accident he caused, and he is smirking and blowing it off like it is not a big deal. I at this point asked the police officer if he could move the guy to another area of the hospital, otherwise it wasn't going to be pleasant. It took all I could do to restrain myself from saying exactly what I thought. -- Now that I have caught you up to speed on the chain of events that took place on my way home from what started out as a great evening, let me get to my rant. Why is it ok for someone to be under the legal limit for alcohol consumption not have to worry about the outcome of their actions? I personally believe there should be a zero tolerance level for drinking and driving. I don't care if you had 1 sip of someone's drink or a 24 pack of beer all to yourself. At no point, should you get behind the wheel of a car. What if my 2 year old nephew would have been in that truck with us? What if my sister or I didn't get to walk away with minimal injuries from that accident? What if we had gotten killed? Would this guy, who obviously admitted had been drinking from his snide little comment, still think it would be thrown out? You know, you never really realize how much of an issue something really is, until you are forced to deal with it yourself. Luckily for my sister and I, her truck was the most thing damaged. A vehicle can be replaced. A life can not. I seriously think our legal system needs to reevaluate our laws on drinking and driving. We have a zero tolerance for not wearing a seatbelt, shouldn't we have the same for drinking and driving? Which, in my opinion, can cause a lot more damage than not putting on your seatbelt.
So, that was my night in a nutshell. Just goes to show how quickly something can be taken away, and never again will I take anything for granted.
