by Mary Macary
In a Choices Matter Campaign on March 19th, 2024, author and public speaker Chris Sandy visited our High School. He told his story, revealing that he had driven drunk and killed two people. For this, he was sent to prison for eight years, and he is still on parole for what he did to this day. Sandy, in great detail, told his story, shared his regrets, and brought reality to the distracted driving accidents we all hear about from his unique perspective. He described his time in prison and discussed the ways in which he did, and continues to, atone for what he had done, such as being part of the Enduring Regret film, befriending a victim of a distracted driving accident, and trying to be the best person he can be. Despite all this, he acknowledges that he can never be simply forgiven. Sandy’s presentation was powerful, impacting students and teachers alike to reflect on their mindsets and to be more aware than ever of just how dangerous distracted driving can be.
While Sandy focused on his own personal experience of alcohol-induced distracted driving, the message extends to distracted driving as a whole. When you are not focused on driving, people can get hurt. One way he really honed in on his point was by emphasizing that the party he was driving to when he caused the accident was just down the road from his previous location. It was a road he was familiar with, a road he drove on with confidence. Many of us can relate to the familiarity of certain roads, the type of road that you grew up on, one where you feel invincible. But you are never invincible, as proven by Sandy. Careless driving can cause severe harm even if it’s somewhere you know or if you’ve driven on the road a hundred times, or even if you’re just driving down the road. Sandy enlightened us to his past experiences in order to prevent us from making the same mistakes that he did.