- The holidays see a spike in drunk driving crashes and arrests. Be aware and plan for safe transportation.
- Tallahassee Police Officer Edward Campbell shares his harrowing experience as a victim of drunk driving, emphasizing the life-altering consequences.
- Watch video to see how Campbell actively works to prevent drunk driving.
Broadcast Transcript:
We’re in the time of the year both nationally and statewide where we some of the highest numbers of drunk driving crashes and arrests.
It’s why you’ll see signs on billboards saying don’t drink and drive.
“Go out have a great time,” Edward Campbell said. “But have a plan in place.”
Campbell is intimately familiar with the importance of not driving drunk.
“I was going through the intersection, I didn't see him coming until the last second,” Campbell said. “Flew through the intersection, hit my car, I was ejected from the vehicle.”
Campbell was coming off work from his job a Gadsden County Sheriff Deputy.
“I was taken within an inch of my life,” Campbell said. “Had to get life flighted a couple days later over to Shands [Hospital] in Jacksonville.”
His family and fellow law enforcement officers helped him keep his spirits up through months of hospital visits.
“I was in inpatient rehab for a month after that, after a month in the hospital, and then I had rehab outside of the hospital for quite some time as well,” Campbell said.
Campbell now works at the Tallahassee Police Department and his passion is preventing drunk driving accidents like his own.
“Driving buzz is still driving drunk,” Campbell said. “You may not think it, but if you were drinking, and you're getting in to drive and you're driving impaired, that is breaking the law.”
Campbell said during his time recovering the Leon County Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving helped him and his family. He continues to work with the organization to educate people on the harms of drunk driving.
