A GRANDFATHER who was severely injured along with his wife after a drunk-driver crashed head on with their car is urging people to think before they get behind the wheel this Christmas.
Walter Buckley, 73, of Fentons Road, Rayne, was driving home after a shopping trip with his wife Margaret when a Ford Focus driven by a woman over the legal alcohol limit crashed into them.
"All we think about now is that we are lucky to be alive," said Mr Buckley, a grandfather of 16.
"The emergency services told us we should never have got out."
Mr and Mrs Buckley were heading along Queenborough Lane near Braintree in their Hyundai when the driver, a mother-of-three who admitted to drinking a large glass of wine, crashed into the couple in July 2007.
Mr Buckley suffered a shattered pelvis while Mrs Buckley suffered leg injuries and was knocked unconscious.
The couple had to be cut out of the wreckage by fire crews.
And while the crash may have been more than five years ago, the couple say they are still affected by what happened to them.
"I have now got one leg shorter than the other and I have got a plate inside of it," said Mr Buckley.
"Now when I sit down it can be very uncomfortable.
"I went to Broomfield Hospital a couple of years ago and they said they could take the plate out but they couldn't guarantee it would help.
"My wife still suffers too – she has now got one leg bigger than the other, it still swells right up."
The driver of the Ford Focus was disqualified from driving for 12 months by Chelmsford magistrates, fined £500 and ordered to pay costs of £60
She was also uninsured at the time of the crash and the court was told she had miscalculated the impact of a large glass of wine, believing it would not take her over the limit.
"She should have been banned for more than a year," said Mr Buckley.
"She could have killed us.
"You shouldn't drink and drive. It's just as bad as people on their mobile phones and things like that – there have been too many people killed. You can have a drink without driving."
Mr Buckley's message is something that is being enforced by officers from Essex Police as part of their anti-drink-drive Christmas campaign.
Since the beginning of December, eight men and one woman have failed a police breath test.
Of those nine people, one was a 72-year-old man from Tiptree who was found to be twice the legal drink-drive limit. He was driving last Friday evening when he was stopped and will be appearing in court on January 8.
A 45-year-old woman from Harlow was also stopped at 10.20am last Friday, where she was found to be nearly four times over the limit. She too will appear in court in January.
A third arrest came as the result of a call from a member of the public.
A 44-year-old man from Suffolk was seen to be driving erratically along the A12 near Chelmsford on Saturday.
Police stopped him near the Essex/Suffolk border and charged him with failing to provide a specimen for analysis, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to stop for police.
He appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Monday.
PC Adam Pipe, casualty reduction manager, said: "While the percentage of those found drink-driving is similar to previous years, I am shocked by the drivers we have stopped who are heavily intoxicated and behind the wheel of a car.
"It is frightening to think what devastation they could have caused.
"Anyone who knows someone who regularly drinks and drives should report them to Essex Police on 101, or they can give information anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."