To The Drunk Driver Who Hit My Car On Halloween

Dear Drunk Driver,

I hope you are okay. I hope you got home safely. I hope you hurt no one on your way home, or caused any more damage. I hope you woke up the next day and felt like a complete piece of sh*t… because that is how I think of you.

I am so angry because of you… and I do not want to be. I don’t know you. I couldn’t recognize your face in a crowd, and I don’t know your name. Being angry with a stranger won’t let me sleep at night, and it won’t fix what you did… the damage you caused my car, and my life. It also won’t give back the sleep I’ve lost, from worry and stress. 

I am stressed because I am a student. I do not have the money to pay my deductible. But I now have to pay that deductible because you drove away after hitting my car. I do not have your insurance information. I do not have your license plate number to track you down. Instead of exchanging information you ran a stop sign – in a hurry to get away from the people chasing you.  I did not receive any help from the friends you dropped off either.  They pretended they didn’t know you. Maybe that makes them god friends, but you sir do not deserve them. 

I worry. My heart was in my throat when you ran that stop sign through Richmond St. I prayed to a God that I have never believed in, that you would make it to the other side safely and without hurting anyone. I worry… because even though I do not know you, I wonder what happened to you when you left… and I hope you are okay. 

I do not know you and yet I feel hate for you. No, I am not shallow enough to hate you because of the damage you did to my car. Instead I hate you for being so irresponsible… you drove away from my broken car, leaving me to pick up the pieces. I hate you for being so disrespectful… causing damage to the car I worked so hard to be able to afford while in school. Something you cared nothing about. I hate you because people like you make it hard to believe that everyone is inherently good. I hate you because I do not like being angry… but you have made me feel this way. 

Mostly, I hate you because you put the safety of others at risk by driving intoxicated. How dare you??? What kind of person cares so little for his safety, and the safety of others, that he would get behind the wheel of a car after drinking? You had three other people in your car that night… another person when you drove away from my car. I pray more than anything that she got home safely. How could you care for your friends so little that you would drive drunk instead of splitting on a cab? 

When you hit my car I was standing on the porch of my friend’s house just trying to call a cab to take me home. I had driven to her house with the intention of leaving my car there overnight, and with a plan to get my self and my best friend home safely. I had done the responsible thing, and I had no worries about my physical safety, or the safety of my property, because I was not going to drive – even if I had only one drink. How many drinks did you have before you got behind the wheel? How many beers or shots did you have before you decided that someone else’s life was worth less than the price of a cab home? 

I stood on that porch… holding the bag I had been about to toss in my car, and thought how lucky I was that I had decided to stay back – because it was raining. How lucky was I that I wasn’t standing beside my car, or leaning into it when you hit it? You were not looking… and you drove away, knowing you had hit something. What if you had hit me? Would you have driven away? Would your friends have pretended they did not know you still? Would the police push more to find you? 

I do not know what else I would say to you if I ever met you. I hope you are okay, and I hate you. I hope you never drink and drive again, but something tells me you will…. because you don’t care, or you don’t take the risks seriously. I hope you don’t hurt anyone because you are being an idiot… and I hope Karma kicks your ass. I hope that people stop driving while intoxicated… because not everyone is as lucky as I am. 

Frustrated and Angry,

The Blue Fiat Girl 

• drunk driving