Daniel Mager
Last October we celebrated a mate of mine’s bachelor party with some savage “suiping”. Festivities started witha few cold ones being thrown back at the local before we moved on to one of the participant’s houses for the wholesome braai (read stomach lining). Following this, we caught a WP / Sharks game preceeding the Currie Cup final (which WP won leading to shooters finding their way onto the menu) and then we headed out on a party bus for three hours tearing up most of the highways and biways of the fair Mother City before heading back to the said local.
Needless to say, at some wee hour of the morning, I happened to be incredibly plastered and needed to get my drunk arse back home. Steadying myself, I managed to get out of the parking area without hitting anything and then parked at a stop street for what seemed like an eternity trying to plot the best route home. Having taken every road except said route, I found myself trying to get onto the N1 via an offramp (i.e. travelling in the wrong direction onto the N1). Finally realising I was headed against the traffic, I turned around just managing to miss an on coming vehicle…
Eventually finding my way onto the N1, I managed to keep it pretty safe and steady and took the N7 towards Malmesbury. Gunning at a fair speed, I found myself dozing off behind the wheel on a number of occassions and had to jerk the wheel to avoid pranging across the road or landing in a ditch. Next up was me missing the turnoff in the direction of home and having to pull off the mucho handbreak turn to steer the car back on homeward bound.
Waking up the next morning (with the mother of all hangovers) and seeing my son as glad as he was to have dad back home (regardless of what condition he was in) made me pledge to never drink and drive again. I cringe at the thought of what would / could have happened to me and others on the road had I not have had guardian angels guiding me home that morning. Stay dry if you plan to drive or catch a lift if you plan to drink. Your life and the lives of your fellow road users are more important than drinking and driving.
