While stationed at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, I went to my boss’s house for a New Year party. Back in those days, drinking and driving was so common. On my way home, I was speeding a little, but not super-fast. I was going over an overpass that was on a curve. Two cars behind me were racing each other. One of them passed me and hit his breaks. When I saw the brake lights, I braked and noticed the divider between me and the oncoming lanes was not very high. I could see no traffic coming so I decided to drive over it, come to a stop and turn around. Well, both front and back wheels with the divider at the same time and my car flipped over. I don’t know how far I skidded, but the upper right corner of my windshield was melted. Luckily, I was wearing seatbelts. Without thinking, I undid the seatbelt and hit my head on the roof of the car and crawled out. The engine was still running so I shut it off. I had a little blood on my nose where I hit the steering wheel, but I was ok. I was more worried about my car. 

The cops showed up soon and asked whose car it was. I looked around and didn’t see anybody else with blood on their face and pointed at myself. I got into their car and explained what happened. When asked how much I drank, I explained that my boss got a cocktail recipe book for Christmas and we started on page one. I had no idea home many. I asked if I could have a cigarette and one cop said now. After a few minutes I asked again, same answer. After a few more minutes I asked one more time and the driver said that if I asked again, I would head for jail. When the fire truck arrived, the driver went to talk with them. His partner gave me a cigarette without me asking. I was very truthful and respectful to the cops. It was a one-car accident. I guess because of those reasons, they didn’t give me a traffic ticket. This would never happen today.

Drinking and driving is so stupid. Not only can you kill yourself, but you can kill others in your car or innocent people on the road. When we are young, we don’t think about the consequences of speeding or drunk driving. As I got older, I realized how dumb I was drinking and driving. It has been many years now that I won’t drive after drinking even only one beer. Don’t drink and drive!