Drunk Driving Does Cost YOU

By Angi Agle

The high cost of drunk driving was brought home to many Oak Ridgers on the night of September 3, and well into the next day. That Thursday morning, thousands of our residents awoke to find they were still in the dark, without alarm clocks, coffeemakers, blow dryers, or TV.

Many others were inconvenienced as Glenwood Elementary School was forced to close, along with the Department of Energy, and dozens of businesses. Even those who didn’t suffer the outage at home may have been unable to get needed medication from their pharmacy, or other services from the businesses affected.

The City was forced to spend scarce taxpayer resources to correct a problem that it did not – could not – anticipate, at a time when those resources are already scarce. Those costs belong to all of us, including those who didn’t spend a night in the dark. The City has declared that it will seek restitution from the man who caused the outage when he drove a car that did not belong to him into a utility pole. With no insurance and few assets, the likelihood of recovery is slim to none. It’s far more likely that we will pay yet again to send him to trial, then for his room, board, and medical care while in jail.

If we totaled the damages – both real and personal – to the nearly four thousand homes and businesses, and heaped them upon a single person or family, it would still pale in comparison to the effect of many drunk-driving accidents.

All too often, those accidents end up with the death or serious injury of a loved one. Last year, 17,000 people died as a result of drunk drivers; half a million more were injured. And even though no amount of money can compensate for the loss of a life or permanent injury, too often, there are no resources to compensate for even real and measurable damages.

The best tools at our disposal for eliminating the damage caused by impaired drivers are education, legislation, and peer pressure – the idea behind ̶friends don’t let friends drive drunk.” Understanding that one of the effects of alcohol is impaired judgment, a polite but insistent offer of a ride home could save lives and heartbreak.

If you were among those who awoke to darkness on the morning of September 4, imagine for a moment what it might have been like if that darkness continued for months or years – the kind of darkness caused by loss of a loved one, or by serious injury.

So much of the damage caused on our streets and highways is entirely preventable, and it’s up to each of us to diminish the potential for tragedy whenever the opportunity presents itself.

The September 4, 2003 story in the Oak Ridger can be seen here.

Kelly Dagenhart is the President of Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID) Anderson County, a grassroots organization that exists solely to deter drunk driving, the binge drinking that precedes it, and to help victims regain hope and justice in their lives.