The last time I took a defensive driving class was in 1995.
I remember the instructor telling us how they used to show very graphic videos of what happens when you drink and drive. The reason they had to stop was because the scenes upset too many people. My answer to that is some people need to be scared straight. What better way to get through to people today than to show exactly what happens when you drink and drive.
Instead, the video we watched was a sanitized watered-down version of what happens when you drink and drive. I have seen it before in previous defensive driving courses I took. A story about an employee celebrating his promotion by having too many drinks. He is pulled over by a police officer and given a sobriety test. The test determines he is driving illegally intoxicated and arrested and must go through the shame of being bailed out by his wife.
If these people had been guys, I would have gotten upset, looked at them like they were complete idiots, utter something insulting they could not hear and then be on my way. They were not guys though. They were two women, probably in their late 20s. The one on the passenger side had her head down like she was sleeping and the woman in the driver’s seat looked frantic and was not sure what to do.
Upon closer inspection of their vehicle, it took less than five seconds for me to regret having gotten out and offered to help at all because there was not anything I could do. The front wheel on the driver’s side was flat and pushed inward. The back tire on the same side was also flat. I asked the young woman whose name was Michelle what happened, and she said she went over the curb and now the car will not even move.
Because of the chilly weather, it took me 10 minutes to smell alcohol on her breath. Then there was that half empty box of beer sitting in the back seat of her car. It would not take a police officer five minutes to realize this was a drunk driving case. Obviously, she sobered up after realizing how much trouble she might be in. Her friend was ok and was just sleeping.
Since Michelle wanted no police officers, I gave her my triple AAA card to call a tow truck on her cellular phone. (The AAA card is yet another thing I pay for yearly other than having a cellular phone in case of emergencies).
The wrecking service got there by 5 a.m. It should, however, be noted here that I always see a lot of police officers patrolling this area in Rowlett all the time and for that entire 90 minutes, not a single police car came by. How come when someone is out driving drunk, there is never a police officer around when you need one? But when I am on the road, I got cops just waiting for me to coast past a stop sign or run a red light just so they can pull me over and search my car?
I left once service arrived. I could tell she was still inebriated though as she wrote her phone number on her checking account slip that had a balance of $1100.00 in it, account number and all. She insisted I call her later that day so she could send me a check for helping her out. I really was not concerned about compensation. All I cared about was that she got the car taken care of and had a ride home.
I thought about the incident shortly thereafter. Several things could have happened had I not stopped. Someone else probably would have stopped and helped, I assume. An oncoming car could have hit them head-on. A member of Rowlett’s finest would have finally driven by, seen the car stuck in the middle of the road and gone out to investigate. As a result, she most likely would have been arrested.
When I called Michelle later that day, she told me the Chevrolet dealer gave her a new car and that everything was ok now. I have no idea how she pulled that off.
I also got a $50 check from her that week that did not bounce. I would not have cared if it did. This entire incident did not cost me anything other than an hour of sleep.
I hope Michelle learned her lesson this time.
She obviously did not learn it the first time.
When she was living in Colorado last year, Michelle told me her driver’s license was taken away by the courts after she was caught driving under the influence of alcohol.
©2/21/2001
I remember the instructor telling us how they used to show very graphic videos of what happens when you drink and drive. The reason they had to stop was because the scenes upset too many people. My answer to that is some people need to be scared straight. What better way to get through to people today than to show exactly what happens when you drink and drive.
Instead, the video we watched was a sanitized watered-down version of what happens when you drink and drive. I have seen it before in previous defensive driving courses I took. A story about an employee celebrating his promotion by having too many drinks. He is pulled over by a police officer and given a sobriety test. The test determines he is driving illegally intoxicated and arrested and must go through the shame of being bailed out by his wife.
The closest I have seen of the end results of drinking and driving was in August 1997 when Princess Diana was killed in a car accident. I was amazed watching the hotel video shortly before the crash at how well driver Henri Paul conducted himself as though he had not had a drink that night. The fact is you become a completely different person when you are drunk and get behind the wheel.I figured this out last month as I was driving home from work at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning. I did something I would never, ever do. I pulled my car over and got out to help someone who was stranded in the middle of the road. I was going down Rowlett Road towards Mesquite and if you have driven down that area, you know that part of the road is hilly, and it is sometimes hard to see what is in front of you until you come to the top. There I was going about 40-45 miles an hour when at the top of a hill, I almost rammed a woman’s red Chevrolet that was stranded in the middle of the road. It had no emergency lights on.
If these people had been guys, I would have gotten upset, looked at them like they were complete idiots, utter something insulting they could not hear and then be on my way. They were not guys though. They were two women, probably in their late 20s. The one on the passenger side had her head down like she was sleeping and the woman in the driver’s seat looked frantic and was not sure what to do.
Upon closer inspection of their vehicle, it took less than five seconds for me to regret having gotten out and offered to help at all because there was not anything I could do. The front wheel on the driver’s side was flat and pushed inward. The back tire on the same side was also flat. I asked the young woman whose name was Michelle what happened, and she said she went over the curb and now the car will not even move.
I have hit curbs before but never to the point where the car was now immobile. There was no way I could physically push her car onto a residential street judging by the condition of the front wheel alone. Besides that, the transmission was also damaged. Even in neutral, the vehicle made a loud clicking noise and would not move. Luckily, a guy in a truck came along and pushed the car out of the way of oncoming traffic and then drove off.That was not the end though. Who am I going to call at 3:30 a.m. other than the Rowlett Police Department? But she flat out told me no and it did not take me long to figure out why.
Because of the chilly weather, it took me 10 minutes to smell alcohol on her breath. Then there was that half empty box of beer sitting in the back seat of her car. It would not take a police officer five minutes to realize this was a drunk driving case. Obviously, she sobered up after realizing how much trouble she might be in. Her friend was ok and was just sleeping.
Since Michelle wanted no police officers, I gave her my triple AAA card to call a tow truck on her cellular phone. (The AAA card is yet another thing I pay for yearly other than having a cellular phone in case of emergencies).
The wrecking service got there by 5 a.m. It should, however, be noted here that I always see a lot of police officers patrolling this area in Rowlett all the time and for that entire 90 minutes, not a single police car came by. How come when someone is out driving drunk, there is never a police officer around when you need one? But when I am on the road, I got cops just waiting for me to coast past a stop sign or run a red light just so they can pull me over and search my car?
I left once service arrived. I could tell she was still inebriated though as she wrote her phone number on her checking account slip that had a balance of $1100.00 in it, account number and all. She insisted I call her later that day so she could send me a check for helping her out. I really was not concerned about compensation. All I cared about was that she got the car taken care of and had a ride home.
I thought about the incident shortly thereafter. Several things could have happened had I not stopped. Someone else probably would have stopped and helped, I assume. An oncoming car could have hit them head-on. A member of Rowlett’s finest would have finally driven by, seen the car stuck in the middle of the road and gone out to investigate. As a result, she most likely would have been arrested.
When I called Michelle later that day, she told me the Chevrolet dealer gave her a new car and that everything was ok now. I have no idea how she pulled that off.
I also got a $50 check from her that week that did not bounce. I would not have cared if it did. This entire incident did not cost me anything other than an hour of sleep.
I hope Michelle learned her lesson this time.
She obviously did not learn it the first time.
When she was living in Colorado last year, Michelle told me her driver’s license was taken away by the courts after she was caught driving under the influence of alcohol.
©2/21/2001
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