At first, I just shook my head. Then, I realized that there was more to this than just a story that was about to go viral…
I heard a segment on the Howard Stern Show where they were talking about a girl who was recently arrested while on probation for a DUI. After she went in for a scheduled breathalyzer test and passed, she went home and posted this to Facebook:
“Buzz killer for me, I had to brethalyze this morning and I drank yesterday but I passed thank God.”
Basically, the cops tracked down her post and called her up to come in and do a urine test, but she hung up on them. The cops ended up going to her house and arresting her shortly after that.
Outside of this being a story that has gained popularity for obvious reasons, to me there are so many more layers to it. It is dangerous to minimize getting a DUI, or any other legal repercussions that come from it. I got a DUI myself, and I don’t want to be a hypocrite, but because of my sobriety, I see this through a completely different lense.
Not only is it not funny to try to evade these tests or the consequences of them, but it’s certainly not funny to drink and drive. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 31% of all traffic deaths in 2012 were caused by drunk driving. It is because of these numerous alcohol-related deaths that the legal system is cracking down on offenders and for good reason — people’s lives can be taken away so fast.
This girl did not take her offense seriously, and it just shows that in today’s society, some people are turning something this serious into a joke – almost as if it socially acceptable to do so when it clearly isn’t. In my sobriety, and even with a DUI under on my record, I can recognize the importance of people taking accountability for their actions. Whenever I got in trouble, the last thing I would want to do is display my mistakes to the public, especially because even though I did take my consequences seriously, I still couldn’t stop using. The last thing on my mind was bragging about my slip-ups. Today, I am so much more cautious about what other people are doing even though I have done similar things in the past. I truly hope that by watching the legal system crack down on these offenders that new light can be shed on the dangers of drunk driving – and the dangers of not taking accountability for a DUI.
