Column for July 22, 2004
How
many times have you heard people say don't drink and drive? Most often it is directed
at young people but it is equally important for old people.
The other night
I was having the famous Benny and the Jets van towed home on a huge flat bed tow
truck. With lights flashing the tow truck driver started
to back into my driveway
when a car T-boned the tow truck full speed ahead. Car parts went flying, fenders,
hoods, the lady driver never even hit the brakes.
After the dust settled
I ran to the car to see if the driver was OK. Surprisingly she was, not even a
scratch. I helped this little old white haired lady
out of the car. She was
upset because she was afraid people would blame the accident of the fact that
she was 80 years old. As the smell of booze
hit me, I told her not to worry,
I didn't think they would be blaming this accident on her age.
But it made
me think, here is an adult, an 80 year old adult, who was at a party had a few
drinks and thought because she was an adult, she
thought she would have no
problem driving a few miles home. She, like many people in similar circumstances
was wrong. She was lucky, even with all the lights
flashing she hit that truck
head on and survived.
We have heard story after story of people young
and old who were not that lucky. Worse yet stories of innocent by standers hit
or run over by
people who believed they could make it home after drinking
a few drinks.
Interestingly a lot of people use designated drivers now.
Probably not so much because they think they can't drive or they might hurt someone.
They are afraid of getting a ticket.
Unfortunately it is not the governments
or someone else's job to get you home safely. It is your job. Regardless of age,
people young and old need to have
personal responsibility for their actions.
In life if you steal, cheat, hurt people, have unsafe sex, do drugs, drink and
drive, you have to look at
yourself in the mirror. You have to be able to
say no. You know right from wrong and
you have to make the right choose.
To contact Ben E. call (313) 730-1627 via e-mail benejets@aol.com
and see the web site bennyandthejets.com .