This post is sponsored by TAC
Every time I get in a car, I feel like I’m going to die. It’s not like a panic attack or paralysing anxiety, it’s just a little flash card that pops up in the back of my mind that says ‘Risky Situation’. If I’m in a car, I’m half expecting that a semi-trailer driven by a drunk driver is going to plow into the side of the vehicle at any second. I’m a Gasping Passenger too. You know those annoying people that sharply inhale their breath and slam both their hands against the dashboard every time you brake? That’s me.
I do this because my parents taught me that everyone else on the road is a moron and that I should constantly assume that someone is going to do something stupid. This was excellent advice as I have yet to experience a car trip without seeing at least one other driver leading the stupidity brigade with dumb-ass behaviour like talking on their phone while driving, putting on make-up, texting, reading, eating two-hander foods, transporting seven people in a five seater car or worse, stumbling out of the pub and getting in their car to drive home.
Drink driving terrifies me.
I saw this video last year and something about it really stuck with me.
This guy killed someone because he drove under the influence of alcohol. The video doesn’t excuse his actions but what he says about taking responsibility for what he did really resonated with me. I used to teach with a woman who had to be a character witness for her husband’s best mate. He’d killed three of his friends while driving under the influence. Theoretically, if they proved that this was out of character behaviour for him, he could get a reduced sentence. It never sat well with me and it never sat well with her either. He killed three people and the fact is he made a choice that led to that accident. It was 100% his fault. There’s no shortage of deaths to help promote the message that driving drunk is idiotic but there seems to be this ‘bad luck’ mentality for people that get caught or kill people while driving under the influence. It’s not bad luck, it’s bad decisions.
I’m known for shooting my mouth off about driver safety so I’ve teamed up with TAC again this month to have a chat about drink driving and the current consequences if you get caught.
If you live in Victoria you’ve probably seen the ads for alcohol interlocks – if not, take a squiz at the video above.
Basically if you get caught driving under the influence in Victoria from October 1st 2014, you’ll have a mandatory alcohol interlock attached to your car (at your own expense), so that the car will only start if you blow a clean reading on the breathalizer.
I think alcohol interlocks are brilliant. I’m always the one who calls out my friends for driving when they’ve been drinking, even if they’ve only had a glass or two. Make sure you check out the new legislation here. Not only are interlocks expensive, they’re also embarrassing. Imagine having to breathalize yourself every time you got in the car and several times while your driving your car. Since the beta phase of the program, alcohol interlocks have stopped 250,000 incidences of potential drink driving, which is awesome. It makes me feel a lot safer on the roads when I’m already a bit twitchy and weird in cars as it is.
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Do you think alcohol interlocks are a good idea? Would you like to see this legislation be introduced in other states?
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* This legislation is currently only in place in Victoria.