Drinking and driving kills more than your career

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • 60thAir Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Master Sgt. Sam Shahin has seen the damage drinking and driving can cause close up.
Sergeant Shahin, 60th Medical Operations Squadron paramedic, has seen some unfortunate things in his line of work.

One thing he said he will never forget is the first time he saw a baby die in an alcohol-related accident.

"A lady was at a restaurant with her two children, came out of the restaurant and was sideswiped by a drunk driver," he said. The mother died at the scene, one child was in stable condition and the baby was taken to the hospital.

Doctors worked on the child for 45 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

"The reason we worked on him that long was no one wanted to give up on an 18-month-old baby," he said. "Dad was left trying to hold the pieces together. He's got an injured son and doesn't know what to do now and he just lost his wife and other child."

Sergeant Shahin's story serves as a cautionary tale as to what sort of damage the choice to drink and drive can cause.

It's harder and harder to reach people about just how dangerous it can be, said Bill Walker, 60th Services Squadron safety and environmental coordinator.

"We've become desensitized," Mr. Walker said. He has given information safety briefings on the effects of drinking and driving.

In 2006, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated nearly 18,000 people died in collisions involving alcohol.

Although 2006 statistics are unavailable, 15 people were killed in DUI-related accidents in 2005 in Solano County, an area including Travis. Another 311 were injured and 1,750 arrests were made.

As of October, 26 Airmen have been caught driving under the influence at Travis, according to 60th Security Forces Squadron's reports. Retirees, civilians and other non-active duty individuals at Travis accounted for 13 more.

And those are just the ones who were caught.

However, if you are caught, fines and legal fees can carry as stiff a price tag as $8,000.
If the threat of physical injury or tremendous costs isn't enough, the psychological damages that can come from a serious accident can affect someone for the rest of his or her life.

"Sometimes you may not kill a person, but you can really hurt them enough that the physical therapy and the long-term effects on their life are completely changed," Sergeant Shahin said. "They either suffer long-term disabilities or they have been disfigured so badly that now they're too ashamed to show themselves in public."

Still, rattling off statistics doesn't register with some.

Mr. Walker said the dangers seem to register when he shows people photographs of car crashes showing the brutal and sometimes deadly results of collisions.

"That brings it a lot closer to home," he said. "People see how they can inflict damage or cause injury to others. It's hard to understand when it's such an easy decision."

Sergeant Shahin said he tells people not to think of what might happen to them, but to their loved ones, like the mother and her two children in the accident that still haunts him.

"From being a medic and seeing the impact it has on people's lives, you think drinking and driving may ruin your career," he said. "That's probably the least of your worries.
When you see the impact it has on the victims of drinking and driving, it really goes from being unacceptable to being angry at people who do it. When you see a child that dies prematurely because of someone's stupidity, at that point, what's the difference between someone who's drinking and driving and causes an accident versus someone who goes in and robs a bank? That car became the same thing as a gun. I just wish people could see that."