One drink too many...a life shattered

Living in a village has it's challenges for anyone who has just moved from a city. But choosing to live in a village requires a lot of planning with regards commuting, kids schools, distances to shops and when all these issues are considered we all take for granted one thing: that we have transport. Now for most that means that we drive and we have access to a car on a regular basis.

When we moved out here we had to borrow Dad's car for 2 months as a station runner for Mr C on his commute in the early hours. As it had to be returned at Christmas we had to buy a runabout for a couple of grand which coincidently has been back in the garage more than on the route to the station I believe! However my point is is that we can't rely on Tubes, a regular bus route or an onslaught of black cabs or even hundreds of minicabs.

We have a few minicab companies in the area but we are talking about 10 cabs! If you haven't booked your cab 2 days prior, you don't stand a chance of getting home from a party or even the station after a work drink. This leads to problems for someone with a London mentality who is unaware of these shortcomings. But also being in the country leads you to think that there are no police about and therefore you can stretch limits and drive after a drink.

This theory was blown out of the water this week when I joined a friend in the local pub for a quick drink. My friend is also an ex London Mummy who has moved to the village 9 weeks ago. We decided to meet at 8pm and when I arrived she had ordered a bottle of wine and was busy chatting to some locals at the bar and paying for it.

We sat down and chatted about settling in and how things are going whilst having a glass of wine. I had about 2 medium glasses and she had marginally less than me. We called it a day at 9.30pm as I was tired and left the rest of the bottle on the table much to the amazement of the barmaid. Outside the pub we hugged and I said my goodbyes, turned my torch on and hiked it off in the direction of my house. We both live about 500m from the pub in opposite directions so I didn't give a thought to her return home.

I chatted to Mr C , went to bed and when I checked my phone in the morning there was a text from my friend's husband requesting that I send her home; sent at 12.04am!! I was instantly in shock and dumbly texted him back a message asking him if he was kidding, I left her at 9.30. Fear was consuming me that she had gone missing. I called Mr C who had already left for work. By sheer coincidence he had seen my friend's husband at the station and was able to put my worst fears to bed, sort of.

My friend had decided not to leave her car in the pub car park but to drive home. She reversed into another car and the owner's boyfriend called the police. My friend was taken to the station, breathalysed and arrested. She was found to be nearly 3 times over the limit. It turns out she had had wine at home earlier too, prior to joining me.

She is a 33 year old professional, business owner & mother of 2 under 4 years old, well brought up, never broken the law and has made the biggest mistake of her life.

Her court date is a week away so she is yet to find out the exact details of her punishment but believe me, she is already punished whatever they say.

She will have a criminal record; from this she will have problems getting finance, maybe a new mortgage; she may not get a visa into certain countries like the US for holidays, she will have to declare this at job interviews and CRB checks to name a few things. She will lose her licence for about 2 years due to the amount she was over; her husband will have to do all the nursery drop-offs and commute to the station. She has just applied for primary places for her daughter - they are all a drive away. The impact this will have on her life is immense.

It has shocked me that a life can be shattered in an instance. This can happen to any of us if we are stupid. I know for sure that I am going to be stricter than I have been in the past and know my limits.

I want to keep my lovely life in the country just as it is.