Super Important - Drugs and Driving

Originally posted by De Quincey:
hey guys this is really important so thanks for taking the time. i've got a story to tell with a moral at the end.
one summery morning earlier this year, a woman and her friend walked outside into the bright sun after a night of partying. it had been a good night, they'd had a couple of drinks and a pill each, but nothing out of the ordinary. They left the club tired after hours of dancing, and got into their car.
cruising home, the girl's friend fell asleep in the passenger seat. holding off yawns, the driver pulled onto a main road, glanced at the beach on her right and shook herself awake.
after a couple of kilometres, the driver slipped into a doze. her head dropped and the car began to drift. with driver asleep, the car drifted across 4 lanes of traffic, colliding with a group of three cyclists travelling in the opposite direction. the car kept going, crashing right onto the beach foreshore, flipping and sliding in the process.
of the three cyclists, one walked away, one was seriously injured - spending the next week in intensive care, he is still in hospital and will be for some time. the third was killed instantly.
the man killed was my father.
the man in hospital is the father of a close friend of mine, my friend is also a bluelighter. [edit 4/10 he's made a 90% recovery now].
i tell you all this story because i hope it will make a difference somehow. the story is my own dramatisation based on facts gained from the police.
i'm not in a position to make judgments on the girl for taking drugs or being a raver - having experienced the scene myself i know what goes on. all i want to say is PLEASE guys, when you go out, do it responsibly.
Don't drive when you're affected, or when you're really tired. catch a taxi, public transport or get a friend to pick you up. Or get a designated driver to stay sober - just like if you go out drinking.
taking a responsible attitude can save lives, not just people like my dad, but the life of the driver (who was not injured) who has to live with what she did. and i'm sure if the press find out (which they most likely will) at the inquest into the accident that the driver had taken ecstacy at a "rave party", the papers will scream for raver blood. nobody wants any of these things to happen, ever.
i also want to make it clear that i'm not aiming this at anyone to cast blame, but it's a warning that if you come across these sorts of choices - particularly regarding driving - you know which choice to make. and you know why to make that choice.
thanks guys.When the thread was continued to a second part, DQ made a summary of the replies he felt were noteworthy. Here they are:

here are my own favourite responses from the old thread. some of them are mine cos i think they're important. others are what other people said that i think has extra value.
quite a bit to read, but still shorter than the old thread!
MikeySammy:
..and its not even to do with drugs - fatigue can have these consequences on its own - and its the scariest thing driving a car and being tired .. the other week i drove home from a night out at around 4am .. i hadnt drunk or had any drugs at all .. but i can remember the whole way home i was half asleep and my vision was blurred and even so, i was still at the wheel .. if it wasnt for the fact that the roads were completely empty, im sure i would have had a collision.
very scary shit ..
and it can be so easy to say "ahh, nah, its cool, i'll be fine driving, i've driven home in much worse a state.."
Tarsarlan:
It is something that's important to remember... Just because you can't get busted for driving under the influence of drugs other than alcohol doesn't mean that its any less dangerous.
Ducky99:
I think you have brought up a most important point and i think it should re-iterated. Most party goers scorn drink drivers but happily munch 3 pills and drive home. It is no different!
Tidygirl:
We must remember that when we take drugs, even though we are aware of the risks and choose to take these risks, we should not risk the lives of others by doing things such as driving home under the influence or half asleep. It is not fair that others should pay for our wrong doings, especially in the way that de quincey's father has.
Prometheus:
Chances are when you drive home in the morning that you're going to be fine but there's also that chance that you may fall asleep or lose concentration and have an accident. Asside from the grief the families of those injured, or worse killed, suffer do you really want the guilt that goes with taking a life.
randomblondeboy:
not to diss anyone, but i think alot of people would read this post and go 'oh shit, thats no good, i don't wanna drive anymore when i'm fucked'. you don't forget that thought, but i think when it comes down to a on the night decision, you might forget this. So, with a lote of good parties coming up (kryal,2t etc.) please think about how the fuck your getting there and back long before the party, not on the night. remember how you felt when you read this post, and really consider how much one night, and one small decision could have on yours and someone elses life...
Jakoz:
I was a shift worker for several years, much of it spent driving heavy vehicles... believe me when I say that staying up affects your reaction times SEVERELY. Even if u feel awake, you may not happen to notice that Excel pulling out, or that pedestrian whos decided to chance it and run across.
We had a bloke who rolled a 7 ton forklift at the end of a long shift, over familiar ground with a light load at low speed. He didnt feel tired, but his concentration was down. He didnt notice the slope of the ground. He was lucky - he wasnt crushed. Under normal circumstances he was an excellent driver with a spotless record.
At the end of a big night, catch a train, bus or taxi. Its no different to having a few drinks before going out for a spin.
Most times we make it... sometimes we don't.
Miss Flea:
How many people aren't even going to remember reading this post by the time they're "off their face" at the next rave?
What are the chances then, that they're going to remember it when they're scattered, coming down, tired-as-fuck, not entirely rational nor comprehensible, and wanting nothing more than to get to wherever they need to go?
Who else will remember De Quincey's story at the time when they need to be the most vigilant?
I will.
I have a bright yellow post-it note with DQ written on it. When I park at a rave, I stick it right in the middle of my windscreen so that whoever is driving me home, asks "What's DQ?"
DQ:
i would have thought the very real risks would have outweighed convenience. especially when you weigh the cost of a train or cab fare home against what most of us spend on a night out. then weigh THAT against what can happen if something goes wrong (which is not unlikely, given how fucked up some people are when they drive). i know how I'D feel if i killed someone because i acted negligently or stupidly... it'd really fuck up my life.
Convenience can get fucked, what about taking some responsibility for how you act. Driving a car isn't a fucking game, it's not a cute rolling trick, and it's not even a right. it's a fucking privilege and it stinks how some people abuse it. I don't care if you wanna take all the drugs in the world, it's your own risk. but when people start to impose their own risk-taking behaviour on others, i lose all patience. my family has been irrevocably changed, and a good man, who was well respected in his community, has lost what was a happy and productive life, because some unthinking convenience-seeker decided to drive home from a rave.
As i said, convenience is NOT a fucking excuse.
DQ:
i make the point that this is now a pretty big mess, not so much for me, because all *my* outcomes are basically set. i know how my life has been affected, and i'm free to move on.
but the girl who caused the accident *doesn't know what's going to happen to her*. Will she get sent to jail? for how long? will she cop a massive fine? will she get her arse sued off? Has she needed therapy to help her comes to terms with what she's done? Imagine living for more than 6 months without knowing whether your life is going to be affected in a major way, because of your own stupid acts?
i just don't think it's worth it. but you all knew that already.
DQ:
i know people still drive home after having drugs. you're all smart enough to know what i think of that.
but some of you guys even drive when you're still chopped! what the fuck? an anonymous BLer said to me recently, "I don't drive while i'm peaking..." as if driving when you're half-trolleyed is somehow ok! No, it's not OK!!!
driving through traffic is hard, requires concentration... anyone thinking they can achieve adequate concentration when half chopped is DELUSIONAL!!!
fuck people, all the bluelighters i've met are smart people... you test your pills and do your research, because it makes taking drugs slightly safer. you go to these lengths because you value your safety. so i'm bereft as to why you'd commit such a major risk as driving on drugs!? in the last week i've read about people driving on DXM, spoken to people who've been driving while stoned/pilled/speeding/fuck knows what else, and it really makes me wonder whether you people are serious about preventing stupid accidents and deaths, or are you just here so you can find new ways to get fucked up? come on bluelighters, what the hell are you guys here for? are you serious or are you just a bunch of shit-talking, self-serving, hedonistic hypocrites?
how many times do i have to say it, use your fucking brains. spend $5 each less on drugs, and share a cab home after a party.
Miss Flea:
A thread titled: Driving On Drugs
that asks "What's the worst drug to drive on???" http://www2.bluelight.ru/ubb/Forum19/HTML/009534.html
I've had enough of this bullshit. It just goes to show the lack of MATURITY that some people have.
I feel helpless and saddened by the complacent attitudes that I see all around Bluelight.
Bluelight has really gone to the dogs. It doesn't seem to be about harm minimisation anymore. It seems to be more about finding tips & tricks from around the world get higher, make it last longer and put your own health and other people's safety at risk.
Not to mention your own LIFE and the LIVES of the people around you.
I've had enough of hearing about the "most mashed you've ever been". That's not why I joined Bluelight.
After reading threads like "Driving On Drugs", I feel ashamed to call myself a Bluelighter. I don't need the status, I just want to reduce the possibility of people getting hurt from using drugs!
so there you have it.
DQI don't want to do the summary of the second part myself - so can the people who still keep contact with DQ let him know that the new part is started, and that if he wants to come and put some of the more noteworthy posts from the second part in here he's more than welcome to...

[ 15 August 2002: Message edited by: Pleonastic ]
[ 12 August 2008: Link updated. hoptis]

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Teen 'had no sleep before fatal crash'
November 26 2002
By Jamie Berry
County Court Reporter
Picture: JOE ARMAO
Arpad Gemes suffered severe injuries in the car crash.
A teenage driver had not slept after attending an all-night rave party when he hit a couple, killing the wife and seriously injuring her husband, a jury heard yesterday.
Arpad Gemes, 53, remembers "absolutely nothing" of the collision that killed his wife Kathryn, 49, and left him with serious fractures to his shoulder, nose and legs, and multiple abrasions to his chest, face and limbs on Melbourne Cup Day, 1999.
Mr and Mrs Gemes were walking along Barton Street in Mont Albert to the TAB to place a bet before the collision, shortly after 11am on November 2.
Ashley James Marriott, 21, has pleaded not guilty to one count of culpable driving causing death and one count of negligent driving causing serious injury.
Prosecutor Kieran Gilligan told the jury that Mr Marriott - who had just turned 18 at the time - and four friends had travelled by car from Mildura to attend a rave party near Melbourne's Bolte Bridge. In a police interview, Mr Marriott said the car was "nice and warm . . . perfect for sleeping" and that he went "out like a light".
Mr Gilligan said that Mr Marriott, of Heathmont, had had little sleep in the days leading up to the
collision and should have known the dangers of driving while fatigued.
His driving was negligent to a "criminal standard", Mr Gilligan said.
Remy Van Der Wiel, for Mr Marriott, said a blood test revealed no alcohol or illicit drugs in his client's system at the time of the incident.
The trial, before Judge Liz Gaynor, continues.
Taken from here
[ 26 November 2002: Message edited by: wazza ]

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