It only takes one bad decision to drastically alter your life or the lives of the people around you. Getting behind the wheel of a car intoxicated may seem like a non-issue for some students, but that singular decision can have lasting effects felt by countless people — forever.
In late October, a UT student drove into five people at the Raising Canes off of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd while intoxicated. Four of the five were taken to the hospital, three had serious injuries and the UT student has since been charged with two counts of intoxicated assault.
Many students have the misconception that something like this could never or would never affect them, but that isn’t true. Even if you personally don’t ever step behind the wheel while intoxicated, allowing friends or colleagues to do so can have just as many negative consequences.
“There are always multiple students that stay to speak to me privately, about concerns of their peers … that they are concerned about how much drinking they’re doing, that they’re not safe because of their over drinking and the position that potentially puts them in, and that’s very scary,” said Joell McNew, President of Safe Horns. “I think we need to have more conversations openly about it.”
Approximately 16%-30% of college students in the United States report driving after drinking. So even if you don’t drink and drive, there is still a good chance that someone you know does.
“Your body actually metabolizes alcohol slower than you would think. And so if you’ve ever had that experience where you fall asleep and you wake up still drunk, it’s actually because your BAC goes up before it goes down,” said Ashlyn Branscum, development and communications manager at the Sobering Center.
Students need to hold their friends accountable or seek help on their behalf when witnessing this type of behavior. In order to prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place, students must speak up when witnessing it initially.
“The sobering center is a safe place for publicly intoxicated folks to sober up outside of jails and hospitals and get connected to resources as needed,” Branscum said.
Confronting your friends who are engaging in destructive behavior can be incredibly daunting. However the potential to save their life or others greatly outweighs the negative impacts of an uncomfortable conversation.
“We have to be able to have these conversations openly and share our concerns about each other, because I would much rather you tell your friend… ‘You could end up killing yourself or someone else and ruining your life and their family’s life forever’,” McNew said. “You know it’s a serious conversation, and it’s a conversation that we need to have.”
If you see something that could potentially harm someone, you must say something. Staying quiet in moments like this may save you from a difficult confrontation, but cost you a life.
Petry is a government and journalism junior from Rowlett, Texas.
