Until there are no more deaths that can be attributed to drunk driving then it is a topic that will be revisited with regularity in this blog. The ugly truth is that more than half of the 45-50,000 highway fatalities each year are caused by drunk drivers.
That translates to 25,000 people in the United States alone that would be alive if it weren't for the negligence - more aptly named stupidity - of those who daily dare to gamble the lives of others with their foolhardiness.
I take to my soapbox on this topic again because it appears the pain and hurt of drunk driving resonates and ripples like a stone to a pond - and knows no bounds.
Today's headlines state that a young girl of 14 who survived a drunk driving accident only a few weeks past - that meanwhile claimed the lives of her sister and two friends - took her own life out of despair.
This poor child is as much a victim of drunk driving as those whose lives were lost several weeks ago. Remember yourself at fourteen and the flood of emotions that accompanied even the slightest of experiences was often magnified beyond proportion. Now try to imagine coping and coming.
I have seen this same situation in the past when a daughter lost her mother in a truck accident. The strain was to much too much to bear and everyone wishes that we would have seen it coming.
When a loved one is lost, it is an extremely difficult situation to deal with, particularly when it happens suddenly in an accident. If you have lost a loved one please seek professional help, and the support of family and friends.
