Afghanistan, Iraq, the economy and health care. These  topics pretty much  sum up what’s dominating the news outlets these days and rightly so they touch all our lives and need attention and fixing. Now beyond H1N1 virus there is a malady that is locally sweeping through my area ( New York) and it’s a disease called alcoholism. People afflicted with this sickness almost always affect the people in their lives such as family, friends, and co-workers. Sometimes under certain conditions they affect total strangers. The most devastating by far is when a person who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol gets in a car and drives.

Lately there have been gruesome accidents in my state. Several have  been stay at home moms who’ve loaded up the mini-van with our most precious cargo and recklessly driven off to their deaths. Driving the wrong way down a major highway or  speeding with such momentum that they flip the vehicle several times end over end resulting in the deaths of little kids. Can you imagine going to a funeral home and picking out a coffin that is half the size of an adult coffin to accommodate a small child? Even more disturbing you’ve just left a wedding your daughter was the flower girl your driving on the Meadowbrook Parkway in the limo of the bride suddenly your looking at head lights directly in front of you the driver swerves to one side the other driver panics and does the same thing IMPACT! seconds later the driver of the limo is dead you scramble looking for your little girl you see the top of her head and rush there only to find the most horrific thing no person should ever see: your angels head completely detached from her tiny body. The man responsible was convicted on murder charges which was unprecedented but all the justice in the world does nothing for those parents.

This is an instance when law enforcement is greatly needed but just recently in 2 separate accidents innocent families were killed by cops who were allegedly driving drunk. Both cops refused the breathalyzer which as far as I’m concerned is an admission of guilt and both were given ample time to rid the traces of booze out of their system by their fellow officers so by the time blood was drawn they were clean. This is unacceptable if there is an accident and if there is a question of sobriety then they should be tested on the spot. This refusal has got nothing to do with civil liberties it has to do with the safety of our families which should take priority above all.

If there is anyone out there whose life has been altered due to incidents such as these please comment you need to be heard.