Sisters DUII crash survivor has sobering message

Bree McClung of Sisters, survivor of a head-on DUII crash just days ago, hopes to send a sobering message this holiday season.

“As soon as you even take a sip of alcohol, you’re done — put down your keys,” McClung said Friday.

McClung had just started her newspaper delivery route early Wednesday morning when an alleged drunk driver smashed into her parked car.

“I see headlights up there, and when he hit that tree, I knew I was going to get hit.” she said on a return to the crash scene on a snowy Sisters street.

The force of the crash pushed her car about 30 feet, back to another tree. Days later, there were still pieces of the car on the ground at the scene.

McClung is thankful to have just minor injuries, especially since the news won’t be all she delivers soon . She’s eight months pregnant.

“I could have lost my unborn son, who has not had a chance to live,” McClung said. “And I could have lost my life, meaning my mother could have lost her daughter.”

It’s a problem that spikes during the holidays. Four in 10 highway deaths at this time of year are caused by drunk driving.

“I think the public needs to be aware of the dangers of driving under the influence,” said Deschutes County sheriff’s Sgt. William Bailey. “And if they see a friend or a relative, or a family member that looks like they intend to get behind the wheel, they need to intervene. If they can’t, they need to call 911.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control: the average drunk driver has driven under the influence 80 times before their first arrest.

McClung said it’s a lesson she herself had to learn.

“A couple weeks before I got pregnant, I was actually the drunk driver, and I totaled a car,” she said. “That day was the last time I drank.”

McClung said she’s done a 180 since then, and wants people to realize the price of a round could be a lot higher than you expect.

“It is not worth the risk endangering anyone,” she said.