One decision. One quick, fleeting moment. One drink too many.

That’s how much it takes to take a life.

Despite decades of ad campaigns and law enforcement crackdowns and a never-ending list of tragedies, people continue to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.

Why aren’t we learning our lesson?

Twice this week your newspapers have contained stories about fatal traffic accidents right here in southwest Michigan that resulted from allegedly intoxicated drivers.

Despite these dangers, people still seem to think they are invincible. Too many people think that regardless of how much they’ve had to drink, they are capable of driving because they think they won’t get caught.

But they do, and too often at the expense of another person’s life, and sometimes even their own.

In addition to the lives taken in these tragic accidents, countless other lives are impacted. Family and friends of the victims are left to mourn the loss. The drivers’ lives are changed forever not only by prison sentences if they are caught, but by the guilt that they have taken another person’s life.

We understand these fatalities are accidents; the drivers don’t set out to kill innocent human beings, but that doesn’t make the situations any less tragic.

Next time you’re out enjoying an alcoholic beverage or two, before you decide to drive home, we urge you to consider how your life would change if the worst happened.

Ask yourself, are you sober enough to consider the weight of your decisions?

Are you willing to risk the possibility of a jail sentence? How would you feel if you injured or killed an innocent person?

How would your family and friends feel if you were injured or killed on that drive home?

The decision should be pretty simple. Don’t get behind the wheel.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the editorial board consisting of Publisher Michael Caldwell and editors Ambrosia Neldon, Craig Haupert, Ted Yoakum and Scott Novak.