Unlike on a football field, excessive speed isn’t needed on a freeway — let alone the crowded streets that surround the city that never sleeps. Newly-released Las Vegas Raiders player Henry Ruggs III exceeded not only the local speed limit at 156 mph, but twice the amount of blood alcohol content allowed in the state of Nevada, striking the back of a Toyota with his Corvette. The totaled cars were the least of the damages of the drunk driving-induced accident, Ruggs killing the 23-year-old woman and her dog inside the Toyota, ruining more lives than just his own.

Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Ruggs left a local TopGolf with his girlfriend, both of whom were intoxicated well beyond the ability to even walk in a straight line properly. Rather than calling an Uber to their $1.1 million house, however, the 22-year-old elected to get behind the wheel of a car that has the ability to do 194 mph — a mistake too costly to neglect for any person — but one that was made at the hands of a world-class football player with a lengthy and bright career ahead of him. At 3:40 a.m. that morning, Ruggs and Tina Tintor, a 23-year-old computer science student, collided at an incomprehensible speed of 126 mph, killing Tintor on impact.

The topic of drunk driving is one that unfortunately hits close to home for many – 28 victims having their lives claimed by intoxicated drivers per day on average. Thirty percent of all motor vehicle fatalities are due to drunk drivers getting behind the wheel. These numbers are so staggering, it can be tough to grasp the mindset that drivers are in when they make the decision to threaten other lives as well as their own — a situation so avoidable that it seems these numbers should be exponentially lower. Furthermore, a mistake that was made by a person in the position to set his family up for generational wealth and fortune.

Not only is it illegal for high schoolers to drink altogether, it is especially costly for young, less-experienced drivers to attempt to drive under the influence of alcohol. No matter the distance or level of alcohol intake, whether it’s a mile drive or a sip of beer, there is no circumstance in which it is worth the risk. Call a friend, Uber, or even a parent — getting in trouble with your parents beats getting in trouble with the law ten times out of ten. Being grounded is not forever, but ending your life or someone else’s is.

It shouldn’t take a situation like Henry Ruggs’ to convince you that driving drunk is nonsensical and endlessly costly. In a matter of seconds, Tina Tintor lost her life because an irresponsible football player made a mindless choice. Ruggs will only see the loss of his football career and some money. The Tintor family will never see what their daughter and sister might have become.