OUR VIEW: Don’t forget a designated driver

Drunk driving is a serious social problem, but it isn’t something Utah State University students need to worry about, right?

Wrong. Less than two months ago, a student was struck by a car driven by a man who was drinking alcohol, only a few blocks from campus. Her leg was shattered, her ribs were broken, her lung was punctured. Her life was disrupted. She was forced to postpone graduation. She will carry the memory, and probably the scars, for the rest of her life.

While it is true that drunk driving is rare in Logan, any drunk driving is too much drunk driving. Every fatality, every injury, every smashed-up car is so easily prevented.

Everyone should know the drill by now. If you or a friend has been drinking, don’t drive. It’s as simple as that. Find someone who hasn’t been drinking and give them the keys. If all else fails, call a taxi cab. Logan does have them. The price of a ride is considerably less than the price of a human life.

It is ridiculous that we live in a world where everyone remembers to wash their hands to prevent illness, and everyone knows to use the safety on a gun trigger, but there are still people who don’t remember how important it is to be alert and coherent before they take control of a piece of machinery weighing several tons and hurtle it down streets at 60 miles per hour, where only a few feet away pedestrians are walking on the sidewalk.

It is not appropriate to think, “I’m not very drunk tonight. I’ll only drive this once. Next time I will get a designated driver.” Every time is the one that counts.