Let This Photo Be A Reminder That Drinking And Driving Is NEVER An Option

On November 13, Colorado State Trooper Jaimie Jursevics was on the right shoulder of a Colorado highway investigating a minor accident when a drunk driver struck and killed her.

Jursevics was just 33 years old. She had an 8-month-old daughter.

Her husband had to say goodbye to his wife and her daughter will grow up without a mother because 52-year-old Eric Henderson couldn’t be bothered to arrange for a designated driver after a day allegedly spent drinking and rooting for the Denver Broncos.

He’s being held on a one million dollar bond.

This is an image of Jursevics’ daughter, wearing her mom’s trooper hat. The caption reads, “For anyone who is planning on just having a “few beers” and driving home after, look at this little girl. She will grow up without her Mother, Colorado State Patrol Trooper Jamie Jursevics, who was hit by a drunk driver and killed last week. Is it worth it?”

Of course it’s not worth it. It’s infuriating. There’s no explanation. This little girl will never know her mother.

Drive safely. This holiday season — drive safely.

Obviously this means not drinking or doing anything to impair your judgment and getting behind the wheel. But it also means… be patient. Be mindful. Remember you are essentially operating a moving weapon that claims nearly 1.3 million lives a year.

No one should have to say goodbye to someone they love for such a reason: that someone couldn’t be bothered to NOT get behind the wheel after they’d been drinking all day. Or because someone was driving in an unsafe manner. Every, single one of you reading this post can probably remember the last time you saw someone driving in an unsafe way. And it probably wasn’t that long ago. The flippancy with which so many approach the grave responsibility of operating a vehicle that has the potential to do incredible damage is kind of astounding.

The Huffington Post quoted a statement her husband issued. It ended with, “what was supposed to be one of the happiest years of our life is now a terrible and unimaginable nightmare.”

How does a family possibly cope with something so senseless? No one should ever have to.