Drinking and Driving

Driving on this islands can pose some life threatening consequences at the best of times. The curvy roads, accumulation of oil on slick pavement, blind corners, bad drivers and tropical storms are normal occurrences. Once drinking is thrown in to the mix, the odds of survival become less. Since we have been on island there have been numerous crashes and deaths caused by drivers over the limit. There seems to be little enforcement and few consequences for those that do drink and drive. We hadn't been on island for more than a few days when we were warned that most people do it, it isn't a huge deal. Thankfully we were raised well (and it appears most of our friends were too) and we know better than to get into our crappy cars after more than a couple of cocktails. Some high profile cases have been brought to our attention since our arrival. This past summer a young 18 year old girl, a daughter of a local celebrity singer, was driving on the bypass after a night at the bar. She drove head first into an oncoming car, instantly killing the 20 something Filipino girl in the passenger seat, and injuring her fiance in the driver's. They were to have been married a few short weeks later. Luckily the 18 year old will be serving some time, but how much time is a life worth? Another tragedy happened over Christmas break, and this one really hit home. A young accountant who had arrived on the island only a month earlier was leaving the bar after way too many drinks. Rather than drive, he decided to make the right decision and walk home, but he failed to look in the right direction before he crossed the road and was hit full speed by a taxi driver. It was determined that alcohol was involved... the taxi driver had been drinking too.

It is sad to hear these stories, but one often listens with a sort of detachment. This past week it became glaringly clear that drinking and driving affects more than just "other" people. Two of our acquaintances are notorious for drinking hard and sneaking out to drive home. They have basically been driving drunk every weekend since their arrival a few years ago. This weekend was to be one of the guy's last day on island, and his best friend will be leaving in another two weeks. They were out drinking on Thursday night and one decided to drive home. The other, most likely equally as drunk, jumped in the passenger seat. They didn't even make it around the first roundabout. They flipped their vehicle, pinning one of them inside. Luckily they were both able to make their way out eventually. The passenger escaped by sheer chance, but the driver has been in the hospital for the past 3 days having reconstructive surgery on his arm. He will be getting a skin graft from his rear end later this month to cover the loss of skin. Apparently the doctor told them both that had they not been drunk, they may not have survived. At their alcohol level, their reflexes were slow enough that it actually made the impact less harmful. Now how they managed to flip their car in a roundabout when you can't go more than 60kms on this island is a mystery, but it just goes to show how dangerous it is to be driving without your full faculties. The good news is that no one else was involved, thankfully, because they may not have been as lucky. It is hard to look at these two without criticism now. We ran into the driver yesterday. He had just gotten out of the hospital that morning and looked a little worse for the wear. I found it hard to even look at him, or be nice to him, because all I could think about was his reckless behaviour and how he had endangered everyone on the island's life that night, since any of us could have been on the road. It is a strange feeling when you want to feel pity and sympathy, but you just can't. We are not really sure what the legal repercussions will be, but it already sounds like he will get away with a slap on the hand, since he is leaving island in a week. The passenger left island the very next day! It is exactly this sort of situation that makes it clear there are little consequences for driving under the influence. In the same sentence, I can't say that I want him to be charged, because we know him, but if I had been on the road, or anyone I knew was in an accident due to his negligence I would be plotting his demise as I speak.

This accident has made it clear to me that even some of your friends can't be trusted when it comes to drinking and driving. I know I'll be watching every sip of my appletini next time to make sure that I am nowhere near the limit when I get in the driver's seat.