{"id":122716,"date":"2014-08-25T23:42:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-26T03:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=122716"},"modified":"2014-08-25T23:42:57","modified_gmt":"2014-08-26T03:42:57","slug":"business-life-drinking-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/business-life-drinking-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"BUSINESS & LIFE: Drinking and Driving\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.
Dr. Valda Henry<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As I give thanks for one of my nephews and his wife who by the Grace and Mercy of God escaped major injury and death from an accident in the early hours of Sunday morning and witnessed a vehicle loaded with young men, with one hanging out of the passenger\u2019s front window and two seating on the bonnet in peals of laughter, I decided that the article for this week has to be on drinking and driving and for a call for greater accountability and responsibility.\u00a0 When I saw this vehicle and the men appearing to be having a ball of a time, I prayed for their safety for I imagined what the worst could be.<\/p>\n

In the US, 10, 322 persons died and 290,000 were injured in drunk driving crashes in 2012 and it is reported that every two minutes a person gets injured in a drunk driving crash and 28 people die daily as a result of a drunk driving crash (The National Highway Traffic Administration).\u00a0 These figures are startling yet according to the National Highway Traffic Administration drunk-driving deaths have been halved since the formation of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980.\u00a0\u00a0 In Dominica, I am not certain whether we report cause of death by accident, however, many times we have major accidents, the concern from the comments, appear to be more one of speed than drunk-driving.\u00a0 I wager a beat that drunk driving however often has a big role to play.\u00a0 It is the drunk driving that often causes reckless behaviour, such as evidenced by the men seating on a bonnet of a moving vehicle.<\/p>\n

When I was called about the accident in the wee hours of Sunday morning, one of my first comments was \u201cdrinking and driving!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 When I went to visit my nephew at the hospital, while he lay in obvious pain and his wife sat at his bedside so serenely for one who was also involved in the accident, my first thoughts and words to them were that God was certainly with them and he had deployed a set of angels to protect them.\u00a0 This feeling of gratitude to God was compounded when I heard they had no helmets.\u00a0\u00a0 My next words were words of admonishment about the dangers of drinking and driving and riding without a helmet.\u00a0 These were words I have uttered before, however, he would often retort that he knew and he was okay.\u00a0 He often told me he always rode with his helmet and the few times I saw him prior, he always had one, so it came to me as a shock to find out they had not worn helmets.<\/p>\n

Every time, I see riders without a helmet, I can\u2019t help but think of the worst that can happen and would often tell them, whether I know them or not, to please go and put on their helmets.\u00a0 And if the opportunity presents itself, I would remind them of the accidents before and the probability for serious injury without the helmet.\u00a0 I am quite aware that people have died or suffered serious injury with a helmet on, however the evidence is clear that without a helmet the probability of serious or grave injury is greater. \u00a0There is however a sense of invincibility until they are involved in an accident.\u00a0 They often believe it cannot happen to them.\u00a0 He was in shock and kept uttering that he had never been in an accident before and he did not understand it.\u00a0 However, as we know an accident can happen at anytime, for many reasons.<\/p>\n

This leads me to a call for seatbelt driving.\u00a0\u00a0 Out of Dominica, as soon as I enter a vehicle, whether as a driver or passenger, whether the laws on seatbelt driving are enforced or not, I put on my seatbelt.\u00a0 At home, I am not so conscientious.\u00a0 I have often spoken about this and wondered why.\u00a0 Part of the answer is a complacency and sense that I know the road, but this too, is a wakeup call for me, that a seatbelt is to be worn in and out of Dominica, at all times.<\/p>\n

There is, in my view, a growing incident of drinking among people, especially the young, including the young ladies.\u00a0\u00a0 On a weekend, especially a Friday evening, a visit to any of the bars and nightspots will provide some confirmation.\u00a0 In the US, the statistics reveal that the rate of drunk driving is highest among the 21-25 age group at 23.4%.\u00a0 \u00a0I often tell my nieces and nephews that they should not drink, and I refuse to serve anyone below 18 with any alcoholic drink, including a shandy.\u00a0 They, and sometimes the parents think I am overreacting, arguing that a shandy has little alcohol.\u00a0 I have, however added a message of responsible drinking.\u00a0 I tell them that they should not drink more than they can handle; that they should not drink to impress others; that they should not drink to get drunk.\u00a0 They should not drink and drive and certainly should never drive drunk.<\/p>\n

The debate moves beyond driving for in the US in the last year, there have been incidents of rapes, where the young ladies were totally unaware of the act until someone else videotaped it and placed it on social media.\u00a0 \u00a0I am sure that, though nor reported, that there are cases involving young men being raped.\u00a0 The frenzy that has followed has been on the rapes and the actions of the men, who in most, if not all of the cases were convicted of rape and placed on the \u201csexual offenders list,\u201d for life.\u00a0 I support this action, however, I believe that valuable teaching moments have been missed in these cases, to teach young people responsibility for their actions \u2013 Is it okay for people to get so drunk that they are totally unaware of what happens to them?\u00a0 Why should one be influenced by another to commit an act that one knows is wrong? What is the responsibility of others to intervene to stop abuse of another?\u00a0 To what extent must people be held accountable for their actions? What are the lessons to be learnt and applied?<\/p>\n

I recently heard about an incident that happened in Dominica where a young lady was so drunk she asked a young man to \u201chave sex\u201d, however the young man did not comply for he recognised she was drunk.\u00a0\u00a0 Here again is another incident of irresponsible drinking but importantly a case of a young man taking responsibility for his actions, who did not take advantage of a young lady\u2019s vulnerability, and instead relied on the values and principles he was taught.\u00a0 A case of a young man who did well.\u00a0 These good acts do not often make the news, however they, too need to make the news so that the message for young people is to take responsibility, to do the right thing and influence positive peer pressure.<\/p>\n

This week, let us take responsibility for our lives and that of others; let us hold others and ourselves to account:\u00a0 Let us not drink to be drunk; let us not drive drunk, let us ride with helmets, let us drive with seatbelts.\u00a0 Let us think of the impact of our actions on our loved ones and others who may innocently be injured or die by our actions.\u00a0 Let us think of the impact of our actions on ourselves.<\/p>\n

I take this opportunity to advertise our upcoming Family Symposium, under the theme, \u201cOur Family, Our Home, Our Brand,\u201d carded for August 31, 2014 from 2:30 \u2013 6:30pm at the Fort Young Hotel.\u00a0 It is a free event.\u00a0 Bring the entire family and let us discuss issues affecting our family aimed at strengthening our family ties and consequently our societal ties.\u00a0 Call VF Inc at 767 449 9649 to register.<\/p>\n

I can be contacted at info@vfinc.org<\/a> or Tel: 767 449 9649.<\/p>\n

Until we meet again, may the Lord continue to Keep us in the Palm of His Hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As I give thanks for one of my nephews and his wife who by the Grace and Mercy of God escaped major injury and death from an accident in the early hours of Sunday morning and witnessed a vehicle loaded…","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[89,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-life","category-columns"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBUSINESS & LIFE: Drinking and Driving\u00a0 - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/business-life-drinking-driving\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BUSINESS & LIFE: Drinking and Driving\u00a0 - 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