Shooting, uncontrollable, pain encompassing every limb and system, like an electrical current raging through my veins.  A warm and steady ooze of an unknown liquid trickling down my face.  The feeling of course crushed glass pressing into my soft skin, tearing my life apart. I can hear the faint sounds of wailing sirens and voices asking if I am okay, yet I am too weak to answer. I am screaming. I am screaming as loud as I ever have, but I hear nothing.
You may be asking who I am. I am a 17-year-old honors student. It is June of my junior year and just finished my last final eight hours ago. I decided to go to a party with a few of my friends, because why not? Before this night, I have never drunk before. It was fun, made me feel funny, a different type happy than I have ever felt before. It is 11:30 p.m. and my parents are expecting me home. I have my car with me, and I decide, since my house is only two blocks away, I can drive home. Wrong. I couldn’t, but no one stopped me. My vision is impaired and reaction time is drastically slower than normal. I see a color that resembles a stop signal but can’t connect the dots. I roll through the intersection, and before I can count down from three, three, two, one, my car in smashed against a pole. I launch through the windshield and crash, full-force, onto the pavement. The ground is so cold.
I survived this horrible accident, but this is not the case for many American teenagers. We have a national problem on our hands: teen drinking and driving. There is no easy way around this epidemic; we must face it head on. Did you know that every 15 minutes a teenager will die due to a drunk driving related accident? Or that 60% of teen deaths caused by car accidents has alcohol involved in the equation. It’s time to make a change. You have just started your life; so don’t throw it away to save a few minutes. Call a cab; message Safe Rides; ask your parents for a ride. Don’t get into your car or a car with anyone who has been drinking. One night of intoxicated fun is not worth never being able to have fun ever again. Stop this problem now. You are the solution.