I read with considerable interest an article recently featured on the front page of the “Home” section of The Straits Times. “Drink Driving,” the heading read simply.
Apparently, The Straits Times “-joined the police at two road blocks–”, one in Tampines the other at Outram Road. The latter checkpoint was just outside the Health Sciences Authority, which also happens to be where the bodies of road accident victimss are taken. It was not mentioned if the latter location was deliberately chosen for any particular reason whatsoever.
Now, what stirs me, is not merely the fact that these people are breaking the law. Granted, that is something worth griping over, but what stirred me to blog was this paragraph:
“The Straits Times observed during the road blocks that the drink drivers’ primary worry appeared to be that they would get caught - and concerns about posing a danger to other road users were far from their minds.”
I find it disgusting that these drivers can stoop to such a low level. It’s unbelievable that there exist people who possess such apathy for other people. Do they not know that drink driving is not just about them?
I understand that being fined or jailed is definitely not a nice ordeal. I also understand that breaking the law holds severe repercussions and affects your future greatly. But I also understand that these preventive measures serve as a deterrent to potential law-breakers. In this context, they are there to avert drivers from drinking. They are there to remind drivers: drink driving shatters lives.
But back to reality. We still see drivers failing breath-analyzer tests. We still see people swapping seats in a bid to evade punishment. We still see lives, innocent lives, lost in road accidents.
More often than not, drivers are indignant about having to pull over. I quote from the paper:
“-one driver asked to stop and wind down the window, did so with the utmost reluctance. He refused to make eye contact with a police officer who asked him questions-“
Why do they do it? Alcohol impairs one’s judgment. The driver assumes a false sense of confidence about his driving ability, hence “-making it harder to persuade him not to get behind the wheel.”
Yet, I still feel a twinge in my chest. I cannot help but wonder if things could be different, had the same driver who staggered precariously into his vehicle understood better the life-changing effects caused by one, just one more drink, please. Perhaps if the authorities had emphasized more that drink driving kills, not just you.
"So why do people do it, knowing that it ruins lives?
But now the pain is cutting me like a hundred stabbing knives.
Someone should have taught him that it’s wrong to drink and drive.
Maybe if his mom and dad had, I’d still be alive."
-Somebody Should Have Taught Him, retold by Jane Watkins
Drink driving shatters lives. I feel sorry in particular, for the innocent ones.
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