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The Christmas Anti-drink drive campaign is in full
swing, but there will always be those who think they
can get away with it. Beyond the points, the driving
ban and the criminal record, how do those caught
handle the shame? Another Christmas, another
warning about getting behind the wheel while under
the influence of alcohol.
The theme of the 2019 campaign is that a conviction
can ruin a driver´s life. “That is could come between
you and Christmas” is the slogan. The criminal
record and driving ban are automatic and for those
who rely on their cars that can be punishment
enough. But what about the stigma and the shame?
Mary, a 27-year-old care co-ordinator from Torquay
in Devon, found that being convicted even affected
her relationship whit her mother. “She made me feel
really, really bad. She didn’t want to see me and
shut the door in my face and told me to go away.
That was the worst feeling ever.”
Mary, which is not her real name, says the incident
that changed her life came at the end of a “rubbish”
day at work last year, close to the anniversary of her
grandmother’s death. She began drinking a bottle
of wine at home and then went into town to continue
drinking, but on the way she hit a parked car, failed
a breath test and spent a night in a police cell. “That
was lonely and horrendous. You feel very bad about
yourself,” she says.
Lessons
“It gives you time to things over and how you could
have killed someone. You feel embarrassed
because you don’t think you could even end up in a
cell.”
She was given a £300 fine and a 16-month driving
ban. The ban was reduced to a year because she
signed up a course with the Devon Driving Course
lrun by Devon County Council, which aims to
educate drink-drivers about their crime.
The court meant she had to tell her parents the truth
and endure her mother’s cold shoulder, having
previously told her the accident had not been fault.
I don´t want people to make the same mistake as I
did. People’s silence and looks on the faces says it
all. It makes you never want to do anything so
stupid again”.
She learnt many things from the £145 course but
among them was the fact her shame, criminal
record and costs could have been avoided had she
paid £ 20 for a taxi.
Text adapted whttp://news/magazine.com. Acesso
em abril 2021.