Evan Cochran made a valid point in his column, "If Only the T was Open all Night": it is absurd that the public transportation system of a major U.S. city closes shortly after midnight. As Cochran notes, Boston is not only a major metropolitan area, but it is home to hundreds of thousands of college age students. One would hope that city planners would have taken this knowledge into consideration when creating the public transportation system, but, alas, they did not. However, any "Johnny College" who is "pushed into" driving drunk because he or she refuses to get a cab, use a designated driver, or ride the Tufts late night Boston shuttle is ignorant, irresponsible and selfish.
Boston college students, and especially those from schools with strict alcohol policies like Tufts', will undoubtedly spend their weekend nights at one of the many bars that Boston offers. Moreover, these kids will inevitably end up drunk and seemingly "stranded" in downtown Boston past 1 a.m., which is the time the T shuts down. Cab fares from Boston to Medford are expensive: they usually run over 30 dollars, which is a hefty price for the transportation of a night off campus. Still, are these fares really "too much to deal with?"
Consuming alcohol affects your body in a way that is simply out of your control. No matter how hard you may try, you will always be affected by alcohol. Indignant claims such as, "I'm fine ... my last drink was, like, an hour ago," are no match for alcohol's long lasting effects, such as loss of coordination, slowed reaction time and impaired judgment. I have often heard claims that one can magically sober up when forced to talk with the police or help a sick friend. Yes, you may tone down your drunkenness, but to sober up instantly is physically impossible. None of your attempts to become sober, except time, will save that innocent pedestrian's life when your brain does not react quickly enough to the red light.
When getting into a car with a drunk driver - be it yourself or someone else - you are doing more than risking your own life. You are endangering the lives of others around you. You, as a 21-year-old college student, are playing Russian roulette with the lives of unknowing, sober and innocent drivers, pedestrians and bike riders around you. While drunk driving, "Johnny College's" biggest concern should not be the "bumping techno" he's bopping along to; he should be more worried about the countless lives he has taken into his own hands by getting behind the wheel of a car after drinking.
Drunk driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent crime, killing someone every 30 minutes (NHTSA, 2003). Alcohol-related traffic fatalities carry serious consequences. If "Johnny College" were to consider only himself before driving drunk, he should note that in a fatal traffic accident in the state of Massachusetts "an individual who kills another person through the operation of a motor vehicle," either intentionally or negligently, can be convicted of homicide (MADD). Should he actually consider the costs of his actions on society as a whole, "Johnny" might want to know that the average alcohol-related fatality in Massachusetts costs $4.6 million: $1.5 million in monetary costs and in quality of life losses (NHTSA).
$3.1 million is a lot of money - about 100,000 times the cost of that unbearably expensive cab ride home - but it does not even come close to compensating for the immeasurable cost of losing a brother or sister, mother or father, or best friend in a alcohol-related car accident. Not only are you killing another human being with your selfish actions, but you are also devastating that person's friends and family for years. Imagine explaining to the mother of the fourteen-year-old you killed that you were forced to drive drunk because the T was closed and a cab ride home was too expensive. Is that cab ride still "too much to deal with?"
Staying sober for one night as a designated driver will not kill you, but driving drunk or getting into the car with a drunk driver very well might. The T is not forcing you to drive drunk, just as Tufts' lack of social outlets is not "forcing" you to go to bars in Boston. These are your own choices. I agree: the T should be open later than 1 a.m. In fact, it should operate 24 hours a day. But do not blame your own irresponsibility on the city planners' lack of foresight. Rather, think ahead. Think beyond the time the bar closes and you decide not to pay $30 for a cab. Think, instead, to the time when you have to be escorted out of jail to attend your best friend's funeral, who was sitting in the back seat that night, and choose your way home accordingly.
Casey Beck is a sophomore majoring in Peace and Justice Studies.
