drivers in Vegas, it’s a sickness

So I’ve just about talked myself out of driving in Las Vegas. I had one friend, a good driver, rear ended on the highway almost a month ago, and another friend was just hit a few weeks ago while riding his motorcycle. My first friend is fine, just the normal aches and pains that went away in a few weeks, but my second friend is in a coma (please pray for him and his wife). I am trying to sell my car and so now I’m paranoid that the next time I drive it I’m going to get hit (I’ve been hit quite a few times driving here, the cheapest was $800 with no visual damage to the car, to $6K in damages, and even totaling a vehicle), but its more than just a few incidents. I am literally afraid to walk along most roads, uncomfortable even if there’s a sidewalk, which there isn’t always, and that’s not right.

The stats show that 25% of the folks on the road are under some kind of influence (drugs, alcohol, fatigue), but its also that this is the first society I’ve come across that propagates the idea that you don’t have to be responsible for your actions. I’ve been in one hit-and-run that was costly, but to leave the scene where a person might be dead due to your actions… its almost unimaginable… but not here… read the news, it happens all the time. On base, one of the few places where you should be able to leave your home unlocked, gangs of children vandalize the neighborhoods… this behavior would be immediately adjusted/stopped in another town, on another base, but not here, they're too uncontrollable. The sense that you can do whatever you want and get away with it, because its fun, because there are too many people for you to get caught, I don’t know the reason, but some people just feel they have these rights. “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” is something that even the locals take to heart. It’s a sickness.

And this is something I’ve noticed among some of my own ‘friends’ even. Have you ever heard the song Big Rock Stars by Nickelback? That just about sums it up for me – the “at risk” guys and gals, 25-30, who have big dreams and don’t even see what they’re getting into because the possibilities are just too tempting. It makes me so very sad that such intelligent people can be so easily misled. But according to the pictures, they’re partying like a rock star *sigh* It makes my heart sick for them, and for what they might have become… Thankfully I will be leaving for Korea soon, but that certainly doesn't fix the situation for the 1.5M residents of Clark county. All I can do is continue to pray.