A DUI means ... Paying a much higher price than the cost of a cab

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Editor's note: This is the first in a four-part series of information and personal stories from those who have somehow been affected by drinking and driving.

Drinking and driving affects lives. Not just the life - and possibly, career - of the person drinking and driving, but also the lives of their family and friends, as well as the lives of the family and friends of anyone possibly being injured or killed as a result.

The "DUI panel" began in 2004 and was headed by the former 100th Air Refueling Wing chief of safety, Lt. Col. Timothy Nickerson, whose grandfather was killed in an accident when he was drink-driving.

Originally starting out as Operation Street Smart, a road safety campaign (implementing a no-passing order on certain roads in the vicinity) designed to increase awareness on the dangers of driving in the local area because of the number of fatalities on the roads in recent years, it eventually progressed to the DUI panel.

"Colonel Nickerson approached me with the idea of the panel and I was all for it," said Master Sgt. Rodney Whitaker, 100th ARW Ground Safety manager, who was on the receiving end of a drunk-driver in February 1998.

"The good thing about this panel is that it wasn't driven by the safety office - it's more of a personal program we took upon ourselves to spread the word to the younger folks, and it started at the (First Term Airmen's Center). The panel is made up of volunteers who tell their story on how either a DUI impacted their lives, or they were charged for drinking and driving, or driving while under the influence," he said.

Sergeant Whitaker said being on the panel is purely their choice; there's no agenda - all the individuals have to do is stand up and share their stories with the FTAC students. There is no format; the volunteers do it of their own free will.

"I want the folks to know that the spotlight is not on them - the DUI panel is not a disciplinary action for them; it's totally voluntary and it's more of a 'hats off' to them for having the courage to tell their stories," the safety manager said.

He knows first-hand about dealing with the result of drink-driving. On Valentines Day in 1998, in Montgomery, Ala., Sergeant Whitaker went to pick up his mother in Atlanta, Ga., a two-hour drive away.

"I picked her up at the airport and we were on our way back to Montgomery; we stopped in Opelika, Ala., about 70 miles from my house, in Prattville. As we got off the interstate, I turned left at the light in a four-way intersection and that's when a Buick ran a red light and broad-sided me on the driver's side rear wheel."

Sergeant Whitaker's car was totaled, but the other driver was never charged with drinking and driving, as he left the scene. "When he finally came back, the only thing the police could charge him with was reckless driving, failure to stop at a stop light, and also from fleeing the scene."

The vehicle driven by the drunk-driver didn't belong to him - it belonged to someone he knew - and there was no insurance on the car.

"From that point on I've been very cautious when I'm driving," said Sergeant Whitaker, who hadn't been alone in the car when the accident happened. His mother and one-year-old and teenage daughters had been in the car. Thankfully, they were all unharmed, though he suffered whiplash.

"It makes you realize that anything can happen at any time. Now, when I drink there are always two things I think about - one is my family, the other is my Air Force career. I never take them for granted, and I've been very blessed to have both work so well with me."

There are currently 11 members on the DUI panel, with ranks ranging from senior master sergeant to airmen. They speak every other Wednesday (usually only two or three members speak during a session) and stories range from being arrested for drunk-driving or driving while impaired; being hit by a drunk-driver, and having to identify a body of someone who had been drink-driving.

One success story which is a result of RAF Mildenhall's DUI panel is there is now a DUI panel at Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

One Airman, formerly stationed here, who was arrested for a DUI several years ago, chose to speak on the DUI panel and share her story in the hope the lesson she'd learned put other young Airmen off making the same mistake she'd made.

She now has her license back, and in order to continue to help get the word out about the dangers of drinking and driving, she started a DUI panel at her new base, which Sergeant Whitaker said seems to be proving a success.

Since the panel's inception, the number of DUIs for Team Mildenhall has decreased. In 2005, there were 17 DUIs; in 2006, there were 14, and there have been six so far in 2007, according to the safety office.