As most people know by now a fur named LemonadeCoyote passed away last night while on duty http://fox59.com/2013/02/16/ambulance-involved-in-crash-downtown/\#axzz2L5yqSG9h. I didn't know Lemonade Coyote at all until I heard about this story today. But from what I have seen he must have been a wonderful person- a lot of people are morning today. None-the-less, I wanted to write this journal because there is something very important to share here.

When you drive, you have to remember that you share the road with other people.

This is a very hot topic for me personally as already this year there have been so many terrible accidents relating to poor driving- whether the person was intoxicated or not. I'm sorry in advance for not sharing these stories with anyone earlier- on here or twitter. I'm not very good at sharing news like this. In January one of my best friends, her sister (she is also my friend) was struck by a dodge ram truck while on her bicycle. LUCKILY, she is ok- but we had to sit there and worry about internal bleeding. This wasn't a love tap, she was THROWN off her bike and her bike was MANGLED. Her legs got pretty banged up and got some serious bad road rash. I never heard back if the driver was drunk or just plain stupid.

But other times, the stories don't even with a happy ending. Just recently a neighbor of ours, her son was in a car crash while he was coming home in the morning. The woman who hit him was not drunk, however she failed to stop at the stop sign, did a fast rolling stop, slid on the one patch of ice that was there (it had snowed a day before, stuff was still melting and drying), spun into the other lane and crashed into our neighbor. He died, in the car, internal bleeding. He was my age- we went to high school together. He leaves behind a twin and his mother.

I'm telling you these things because this is becoming (if it wasn't already) an epidemic of drunk drivers and flat our poor drivers. I bet you may have your own stories. I know my friend lost one of his best friends because of drunk driving, there are tons of stories out there. And THAT is a problem. There shouldn't be stories like this. This should not happen. Not only are you putting yourself at risk, you are putting other people on the road (or pedestrians) at risk. Hell, you are putting your PASSENGERS at risk god forbid you do that. And yes, people do that- and it's scary. I can tell you that personally. When you are six years old you should not have to worry about whether dad is too drunk to drive the car and if he'll sway into anymore lanes. Yea, this happened to me when I was a kid. It's terrifying.

It's such a simple fact- do not drink and drive. Remember there are other people on the road. Most of you are sitting here going "well of course". And I'm happy there are people like that, who know better. But even so, if you've made it this far into my journal you need to make a promise to yourself right now. I promise they are simple things, but you have to remind yourself of these things.

• You will NEVER drink and drive.

--- It is ok to drive, but please do not drive if you plan to drink or you are already drunk. If you need a ride home, call a taxi or have someone SOBER drive you. Or hell, are you at someone's house? Sleep there the night!

• You don't drink? That's good. Then be the designated driver.

---At a party? Your friends are drunk? Bring them home. Even though you may not drink you should be responsible for your friend to try and keep them from driving. Can't drive them home? Help them call a taxi or get someone sober to drive them. Or convince them to stay the night.

• You don't drink but you don't/didn't drive? You can still help

---You can still call that cab or call sober friends to drive your friend home. Remember, you can help save someone's life just by doing these simple things.

• Not drunk but tired or in a rush? BE CAREFUL DRIVING!

---If you are too tired to drive, then reconcider driving then. There is a chance you can fall asleep at the wheel and that's just not as good. Are you in a rush to get somewhere? DON'T SPEED OR WEAVE! When I mean speed.... I mean doing like.... 80 in a 45. DON'T. DON'T EVEN.

• Remember, you aren't the only one on the road.

---There are other people on the road. People who are important, just like you. These are people's friends, children, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, significant others. And so are you. Don't put anyone or yourself at risk- ever. Every life is precious and important. Take a taxi, spend the night at someone's house, let someone sober drive you, SLOW DOWN, be cautious.

I feel silly listing these things, but if we start making these simple promises to ourselves, and making others promise us, it may just help.

inb4 people are stupid. Yea, I know people are stupid. Doesn't mean to keep yourself from following these rules or passing them along.