Confessions of a drink driver

[MadMax]

I'm sharing this as a lesson learned. Hopfully someone reads this and it helps them to make better decisions unlike mine.

I should say I'm not frequent drinker and my evidence of not having a drinking problem to the policeman when he came knocking a few days after this event was that I almost exclusively drink at work and I didn't even have any in the house. Yeah I got asked which is great policing.

On a Friday's end within a week or two after the second covid lockdown I think it was, I sat down at my desk at work with a bottle and glass of wine. It was the first team meeting in a while and the reunion buzz was strong. Nothing bad happens on a Friday and this one was extra great for some reason. I don't know exactly how much I had to drink but from memory it was the very end of one already opened bottle and I started another.

I got a txt from my wife to collect some fish n chips on the way home for tea which I dutifully did and everything was perfect. In the buzz I was on I remembered an old mate I'd been meaning to catch up with so in the spur of the moment jumped in the car and headed out to his place which is in a rural location about 20 minutes out of town and not before grabbing some dirty old brand of beer that he enjoys. The box was thrown onto the rear seat of my car.

At no stage did I think I've drunk too much - I was looking forward to catching up with my mate and was in an elevated state of mind. I figured we'd drink some this beer and I'd have the option to stay the night at his place.

As I'm heading out I come up to a car that's doing 20 less than the speed limit. I don't mind, I've got music playing loud and I didn't even check with my mate if he was home so I'm in no hurry. I'm following google maps which shows me an alternative route - oh well let's see where this goes. Eventually an opportunity comes up to pass this other slower car which is also going this same way. There's a clear view down the road thanks to a slight bend.

My memories of what follows goes like this:
- Making the decision to pass and checking that it was clear to do so
- Checking the other car in the mirrors that I'd passed and pulling back in
- knowing that I'd now somehow lost control
- thinking I'll regain control and all will be OK with my wife since I've not scratched the car
- the above all going to hell as my car slams sideways into a shallow ditch with one hell of a bang

Crashing as you can imagine is bloody scary. All the airbags on the left hand side of the car had gone off as well as from the steering wheel and you can't tell the difference between the resulting cloud of dust or smoke. A weird noise was coming from the engine that wasn't the horn and my immediate thought was it could be the petrol pump so best to get out asap.

There's plenty of hissing and other weird noises that a hot broken engine makes and I'm aware I'm surrounded by long grass all adding to the urgency. The left hand side of the car is flush against the ditch and the somewhat low car means that the driver's door is stuck in the curve of the ditch closest to the road. Adrenaline and everything else that your body has in its toolkit kicks in and I manage to force open the driver's door and get out.

By this time the car I'd just passed is pulling up and I'm looking back at my car which is facing up the road in the opposite direction to where I was going. The front driver's side wheel has been pushed underneath. The lady pulls up and asks if I'm OK and suggests I sit in her front passenger seat. I'm well aware of weird things happening to those that have suffered a car accident so take her up on the offer but not before I go back and grab my laptop bag. Scattered throughout the car are the cans of beer I'd purchased earlier and some have been ruptured open resulting in the car stinking of beer.

The nice lady points out that I'm lucky to be alive and says I have a scratch on my left ear. This surprises me as I touch it and find it's caked with already flaked bits of dry and crusty blood. Can only be a small scratch due to already being dry and can't be serious as bleeding from one's head usually doesn't stop quickly.

As I'm trying to work out why there's a scratch she follows up her previous comment saying that I was flying and flipped the car. That's another thing I'm now trying to work out in my head - how on earth did the car flip?

She asked me if I saw the farmer come out and she suggests that he was only concerned that I didn't hit and damage his fence as he buggered off straight away. Probably used to idiots like me hitting his fences. No, I hadn't seen the farmer and looking around there wasn't one in sight.

Confusion rising.

An ambulance arrives as does a policeman, the latter who heard the lady's call on the radio. Policeman takes all my details. Ambulance officer clearly used to this scenario asks me to take a seat for a moment in the ambulance which I interpret as his tried and trusted way of directing people inside. Both officers are asking about any pain and I had absolutely nothing except a painless scratch. I'm asked what I remember happened and pointed out that the lady claimed I'd flipped the car but I had absolutely no memory of that. Flipping a car I learn results in an instant hospital admission for a scan with the requisite funky-warm injection.

Result:
- Wrecked car
- Alcohol means no insurance
- Two court visits
- Court and police fines together nearing $1000
- Loss of license for 6 months and required re-test
- Towing and storage costs
- Mild concussion for a couple of weeks
- Very mad wife
- Other things like pride that don't deserve pity
- Impact to family without my car e.g. the kid's weekend sports trips

This could have been much worse. The lady in the car I passed who offered me a seat had three very wide eyed kids sitting in the back. Somehow I literally came out with only a scratch. My wife was most unimpressed at the time to the point of not thinking I was lucky to have got out alive. My work laptop bag somehow stayed in the car despite one of the rear windows smashing with the bag collecting a smear of stinky ditch mud, just adding to all the weirdness. The somewhat light damage to the rear spoiler of the car and the front bumper indicated they'd both made brief contact with the road. Work that one out.

I tied up hospital and emergency services time with the cost of what would be much more than the sum of my fines.

I now have a zero limit rule that I've applied to myself.

Drinking = don't take the car. Driving = don't even start drinking.

[xor]

Thanks for sharing, MadMax! That is a pretty rough story. Fortunately, you didn't kill anyone and you survived the crash and live to learn what not to do!

Originally Posted by MadMax

My wife was most unimpressed at the time to the point of not thinking...

This is how a lot of men die, by being impulsive and having a 'she'll be right' attitude. Reading your story and looking back at my own life I know this could have been me once upon a time. Or any number of my old mates with the amount of stupid things we did once upon a time.

Stay off the booze

[Cyberbob]

Thanks for sharing. I don't know what you do professionally, but six months without a car would be job ending for me, not to mention the financial & personal burden of losing a car, and the never ending flak I'd get for it.

I'm sure you've heard it many times already, but consider yourself lucky that it wasn't worse, eh.

There's been a couple times in my life where I've driven home from social events thinking "I probably shouldn't be driving" and while I haven't made many silly decisions in my life, those that I have made have involved alcohol.

With a good job, an awesome wife & family, I've got too much to lose.

One year sober this August.

[MadMax]

I have a purely desk based job so was lucky in that regard. I was driving my wife’s car for the first month or so until the court asked me to hand in my license. After that it was a 40-50 minute walk each way or a quick escooter ride.

I was only just over the limit too. I had it suggested to me that I should go back to the site and try to work out what happened as maybe I hit some oil or something? The thought of doing that at the time made me feel ill. I used to watch Aussie dash cam videos on YouTube but couldn’t for a good year afterwards.

Regardless, alcohol in the system means no argument - you stuffed up ol fulla.

Just so much better to have a zero limit attitude. There’s no shame in not drinking or if you don’t take your car you can enjoy the night ever more so.

[Ab]

Jesus Christ. You are so lucky. And so dumb.

I can't stay on this high horse too long, but for random chance it could have very easily been me when I was younger and dumber.

DUMB.

[wazza]

mmm shit reads like a horror story to me.
since the limit was dropped from 400 to 250 or whatever it is you'd have to be super keen to crank a glass of wine before getting in the car.

gg to live and not kill anyone. please don't do it again.

[MadMax]

Oh yep and I expect the flak, surprised there hasn't been more burning from you lot TBH.

Dumb, and that's putting it most politely, it certainly is. To do it again would be indicative of something next level by orders of magnitude.

[Ab]

I also meant to say, thanks for your candour.

[StN]

Originally Posted by MadMax

Oh yep and I expect the flak, surprised there hasn't been more burning from you lot TBH.

Too many people may have possibly been just as dumb but more lucky.

[Know me.]

aho

[BoyWonder]

Originally Posted by Cyberbob

One year sober this August.

Good effort

[wazza]

Originally Posted by Cyberbob

One year sober this August.

gg brah. crazy how easy it gets, right?

[fixed_truth]

Drink driving? How retro

On a related note where's my self driving car? Musk lied