Not Such a Rush, When You Really Stop to Think About It

By Abbie Whelan

Living on the edge – great motto to live by, but when it affects other people’s lives, you would think that it would lose its appeal. However, again and again we see reckless people, mostly teenagers and young adults, putting themselves and others at risk by going out and drinking themselves sick, and then driving home at the end of the night. This, to me, is incomprehensible.

Especially living in a town as small as Grahamstown, where the traditional trek up the hill at the end of a rough night becomes routine for so many, there is no need to drive if one person is not keen to stay sober. In fact, the walk up can be a lot more fun than a drive anyway, and saves the poor owner of the car from hosing down the mess made by their intoxicated friends.

But seriously, so many people dear to me have either been in an accident themselves, or lost someone close to them because of drunk driving. Most of the time, the person who was drunk was not the one who was killed in the accident. It is however, equally as bad to consent to getting into a car with someone who has been drinking, or to let that person drive at all. It is not only the people in your car who are put at risk, but also so many others on the road. Having a few drinks to have fun is not worth putting lives at risk for, so think before you get in the car next time. Choose the safer (also cheaper and more fun) alternative, and take a stroll. Anyway, how can you go bush diving if you drive up the hill? You simply don’t get the full Rhodes experience that way.