Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Reported a drunk:
I was driving up to Gainesville from my parents house in Citrus County. In front of me was a blue car with Florida plates that was swerving all over the road. At first, I thought the person was just distracted, but after it kept happening, I realized that this person had to be plastered. The woman was having a very hard time keeping the car in the lane. She'd start drifting towards the shoulder and then she'd correct it. A few times, one tire even went off the pavement.
Prior to today, I had seen drunk drivers before, but I have never actually reported one. One time I was with my friend "Jas" and I told him I wanted to report a driver. Jas didn't want me to and he said it was "bad karma." What he meant, though, was that it was bad to call in a drunk b/c it would mean that I would get busted when I was driving impaired. I told him that he didn't understand the concept of karma: if anything, good things would happen to me in the future as a result of me reporting a drunk. In any case, I don't believe in the concept so it wouldn't affect my decision. I also explained that if I were drunk enough to be reported or pulled over, then I probably deserve to get a DUI. I asked him how he would feel if he didn't report a drunk that he saw and then found out that the person had gotten into an accident and killed some people.
That reasoning is what convinced me to report this driver. This was the most swerving I've ever seen anyone do on the road. I've seen minor swerving, where the person is not staying steady in his lane or is just drifting a bit into the adjoining lane, but this was beyond that. I made the decision to call when I saw how much oncoming traffic there was. We were on SR-200 and there was one lane in each direction with just a yellow line diving the traffic. The speed limit was 55 so a head-on collision would most likely be deadly.
I dialed 911 and got no answer. I tried a second time and was connected with a Citrus County dispatcher. When I explained my location, he transfered me to Marion County as I was about to cross the border. I followed this woman for a good 10 minutes while on the phone with the dispatcher. I was supposed to go this direction anyway and the woman didn't make any terms. Just before she turned off, I was able to get a description of the woman and the tag number. The dispatcher said he'd send a unit, but I wonder if anything really happened. Part of me wishes I had followed the woman into the lot so I could make sure she got busted. She was that dangerous.
The funny part of the whole thing was that she turned off about one or two blocks away from the Sheriff station. If she had kept going up SR-200, I could have told the dispatcher that we just passed their office. Regardless of what ultimately happened to the woman (probably nothing), I should be proud that I did my civic duty of reporting this idiot. This woman needs to get help and not get drunk at 2:45PM. She probably is an alcoholic so I doubt she's going to stop drinking, but I would hope she would stop putting innocent people in danger.
I was driving up to Gainesville from my parents house in Citrus County. In front of me was a blue car with Florida plates that was swerving all over the road. At first, I thought the person was just distracted, but after it kept happening, I realized that this person had to be plastered. The woman was having a very hard time keeping the car in the lane. She'd start drifting towards the shoulder and then she'd correct it. A few times, one tire even went off the pavement.
Prior to today, I had seen drunk drivers before, but I have never actually reported one. One time I was with my friend "Jas" and I told him I wanted to report a driver. Jas didn't want me to and he said it was "bad karma." What he meant, though, was that it was bad to call in a drunk b/c it would mean that I would get busted when I was driving impaired. I told him that he didn't understand the concept of karma: if anything, good things would happen to me in the future as a result of me reporting a drunk. In any case, I don't believe in the concept so it wouldn't affect my decision. I also explained that if I were drunk enough to be reported or pulled over, then I probably deserve to get a DUI. I asked him how he would feel if he didn't report a drunk that he saw and then found out that the person had gotten into an accident and killed some people.
That reasoning is what convinced me to report this driver. This was the most swerving I've ever seen anyone do on the road. I've seen minor swerving, where the person is not staying steady in his lane or is just drifting a bit into the adjoining lane, but this was beyond that. I made the decision to call when I saw how much oncoming traffic there was. We were on SR-200 and there was one lane in each direction with just a yellow line diving the traffic. The speed limit was 55 so a head-on collision would most likely be deadly.
I dialed 911 and got no answer. I tried a second time and was connected with a Citrus County dispatcher. When I explained my location, he transfered me to Marion County as I was about to cross the border. I followed this woman for a good 10 minutes while on the phone with the dispatcher. I was supposed to go this direction anyway and the woman didn't make any terms. Just before she turned off, I was able to get a description of the woman and the tag number. The dispatcher said he'd send a unit, but I wonder if anything really happened. Part of me wishes I had followed the woman into the lot so I could make sure she got busted. She was that dangerous.
The funny part of the whole thing was that she turned off about one or two blocks away from the Sheriff station. If she had kept going up SR-200, I could have told the dispatcher that we just passed their office. Regardless of what ultimately happened to the woman (probably nothing), I should be proud that I did my civic duty of reporting this idiot. This woman needs to get help and not get drunk at 2:45PM. She probably is an alcoholic so I doubt she's going to stop drinking, but I would hope she would stop putting innocent people in danger.
