Safe driving practices are necessary for anyone getting behind the wheel of a car.
People get reckless and don’t think it’s a big deal and that often leads to accidents.
Redditor aita2218mm encountered this very issue with his brother. So he turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for moral judgment.
He asked:
“AITA for making my 18 year old brother watch disturbing video as punishment?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“When I (26M[ale]) was 22 years old, I had to step up and take custody of my younger brother Isaac. He was 14 then, and is now 18.”
“It was really hard on me, I had to step up and suddenly become a parent to him.”
“Our parents were drug addicts and they’re not in the picture, and almost all family abandoned us, promised to be there and just never stepped up.”
“Isaac is a really sensitive kid, sometimes he has really bad panic attacks, and needs huge amounts of reassurance. He’s not so independent on the emotional side, but he is still very responsible and doing good in school.”
“He just likes to stay with me and live at home while in college.”
“Recently, he had some friends over and they were drinking. We live in Europe, 18 is legal. I didn’t mind that, until they got out and wanted to drive around.”
“I called Isaac aside. I asked him what was he doing and he said he only had one beer and that’s nothing and that he was fine. I said no, and he got upset and started to argue with me.”
OP was not letting his little brother drink and driving.
“I didn’t want to embarrass him, so I told him to go inside and told his friends we had some emergency and that I’m sorry they had to go without Isaac.”
“We had some arguments back and forth. I told him to sit down at the computer and played some compilation of drunk driving videos.”
“Isaac started to freak out after one video, but I made him stay for at least 5 minutes. I was watching it with him. He wasn’t having a full on panic attack, but he was slightly trembling.”
“After that, he just apologized and went to his room. He didn’t get out for about 3 hours, and when he did, he wasn’t talking to me much. Only short answers.”
“I’m scared I traumatized him.”
OP added some edits.
“I talked to Isaac today. I explained to him why I showed him the videos, explained that one beer can lead to more and that I will always be there to pick him up, even when I have work in the morning.”
“Isaac told me he got more upset that I seemed angry, and not because of the videos. Isaac says he understands and that it was a bad idea, and promised he won’t try and do that ever again.”
“I believe him. He also said he expected me to come up to his room, which is something I know now, so there’s that.”
“The two of us drove around, played some music and enjoyed our time. My little brother is okay, and he is not traumatized. Thank you everyone for your judgements.”
Redditors gave their opinions on the situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors agreed OP was not the a**hole.
“NTA, you did the right thing. He might be traumatized over the video but at least it wasn’t him.”
“It is better for him to understand the dangers of drunk driving, give him some time then talk to him in a reassuring way that you only care for his safety, that whenever he drinks you will be available to pick him up or call a rider for him so he won’t be in danger.” ~ Gullible-Tondonian
“In QC, they make you watch people that lost their life as part of the class sometimes… TBH, it sounded like a punishment from the title but that’s just showing what life is.”
“Only thing is that I maybe would’ve stopped when he asked to stop and talked to him about it afterwards.” ~ Cedot1624
“Yeah, I remember those! They really wanted you to know about the many dumb ways to die in car accidents, so you won’t do it.” ~ Mistyfect
“I’m ten years older than you and I had to bully my mom out of driving while texting. It took some work and a lot of arguments, but I finally no longer have to worry; she doesn’t even take calls when driving now, thank g-d.” ~ littlewoolhat
“Someone I was friends with a few years ago, who at the time was in her early 30s, would drive like she was the most important, indestructible person on the road.”
“More than once I saw her texting while weaving through traffic, but she wasn’t receptive to feedback, accusing me of ‘not trusting’ her/her driving so I just started volunteering to drive every time (which also made her cranky because apparently despite being roughly a decade younger than her, I drive like a grandma).”
“Unfortunately some people never think they’ll be the one hurt or hurting someone else with their recklessness.” ~ HappierHungry
OP was just trying to protect his brother.
“Yeah like… it’s a pretty common part of Driver’s Education courses, I thought.”
“I had to have a sit down with my course instructor and discuss it after I had a panic attack after watching one (because I was involved in a family member’s DUI incident as a kid).” ~ calliatom
“Took a driver’s ed class in Utah, and part of the class before getting behind the wheel is watching videos like this.”
“Didn’t stop one teen from being reckless and getting kicked out of the program for showing off, but I STILL remember some of the images. Huge reality check there.” ~ raconteurfool
“Not just drunk driving videos but videos about being careful about road safety.”
“I still remember one they had us watch in elementary school (maybe grade 4 or 5, so like 10-11 years old) about being safe around school buses.”
“I clearly remember a clip of a kid getting his head run over by the bus.” ~ readersanon
Drinking and driving not only puts you but others in extreme danger.