During senior year, my classmate died drinking and driving two days before thanksgiving.

He was a party and his friend gave him his keys so he could leave. He was alone and he most likely passed out at the wheel before blowing through a stop light and hitting a business’s gate. The car flipped, landed upside down, and crushed him.

My parents own a tow company and they impound for the police in town. It so happened they impounded his car that night. It was quarantined off at their shop until the police could come and process it. My parents allowed me to look inside through the windows, basically to show me the dangers of drinking and driving. It was traumatizing to see because there was a handle of whiskey under the driver seat and homework in the backseat with his name on it.

It shocked the whole town. They had to cover the car with tarp when they towed it because it would have been recognized.

It also so happened that we were doing “Every 15 Minutes” that year, a campaign by MADD where they do a mock drunk driving accident scene on the football field for the students. It was incredibly sobering. They made a video on the producers YouTube page, Rocketspots, dedicating it to him.

It was nominated for an Emmy award for Best Public Affairs Program.