There isn't a night I'll remember more vividly than December 26, when my girlfriend and I were struck head-on by a drunk driver – the night when the choice to wear our seatbelts saved our lives.

Emily and I were driving along a rural road, heading for a movie. I was behind a couple of cars, following them out of town. I was rounding a slight bend when brake lights began to flash and the cars in front of me swerved off the road. Before I knew what was happening, a pair of piercing headlights were in my lane, blinding me. I had no chance to react before the impact.

I blacked out, waking minutes later to someone asking if I was okay. Still dazed, I told him I felt banged up but didn't think I was seriously injured. I could hear Emily talking to someone too, and I realized with relief that she was all right. I asked about the driver of the other vehicle and the man said she was fine but that she smelled like alcohol.

I couldn't believe the other driver had been drinking. I felt incredibly frustrated. To think that someone's stupid decision to drink and drive could have ended Emily's life or mine infuriated me.

Emily was able to get out of the car on her own, but I couldn't. The driver's side was so smashed that the door wouldn't open and the dashboard pinned me against my seat. I sat in the cold, wearing only a thin shirt, for an hour before the firemen managed to pry me out with the jaws of life.

Later, a sheriff's deputy visited my parents who were by my side in the trauma center of the hospital. I overheard him say it was the woman's third drunk driving offense. Why she was even allowed on the road?

The soreness and frustration from that night carried into the next few days, especially when my father and I went to the junk yard to see my car. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was so contorted that it didn't look like a vehicle anymore. I couldn't help but wonder how we made it out alive. I felt queasy as the memories flooded back.

I was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver the day after Christmas and was lucky to suffer only a bruised wrist and a few stitches. I feel very grateful; I know that Emily or I could have died that night. It was a shocking reminder of how one bad decision can affect many lives.