A Message From The Thomas Bresadola – Creator of Take The Keys Tour

I take DUI EXTREMELY seriously.

Then why do I take DUI EXTREMELY seriously?

Because I have been witness or first on scene of 7 DUI crashes.

Here is the breakdown:

I have actually witnessed 3 DUI crashes.

I have avoided 2 head on crashes where the DUI driver was headed north in a south bound lane.

I have witnessed a DUI driver, sitting at traffic light, pass out, slump over the steering wheel, foot come off the brake and drive into a light pole.

I have been first on the scene to a DUI driver roll over.

This does not include the 10-15 times I have called into the police to let them know of a drunk driver.

This does not include my coworkers who where hit by a DUI driver.

This dose not include the family members who were hit by a DUI driver.

This does not include friends who were killed by DUI drivers.

Yes, I do take DUI extremely seriously.

I created the Take The Keys Tour the following morning after I was the first on the scene of a DUI. Here is what happened.

I was returning from a performance and only 26 miles from my home. It was around 2 AM and said to myself, “be aware of the drunk drivers because the bars are closing down”.

I turned onto a road that is 22 miles from my home. This is a country road that isn’t well lit. I drove about 2 miles and noticed something shiny in the road. It was glass. Glass all over the road. I slowed way down and moved to the far left as not to run over the glass. I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye. A car in a ditch? Is that what I saw? I stopped and turned my car around. My headlights made it possible for me to see an SUV totaled and off the road. There was a tire in the middle of the road that I did not see earlier. I called the police and let them know a car was off the road. There was a sudden knock on my driver’s side window. It was a girl about 17 years old. I rolled down the window and she was crying. She was holding her hand that I could see was split between the middle and ring fingers. Blood was flowing from the wound. She smelled of alcohol.

I can report that the girl only had a really bad cut on her hand. No one else was in the car with her. She was lucky. I was lucky. If I had been 2 minutes earlier, I may have been hit in the crash.

As I completed my drive home I vowed to build a DUI simulation to educate people that you can not drink then drive or text and drive.

1000’s of people have participated in the TAKE THE KEYS TOUR. The TAKE THE KEYS TOUR has educated, informed and hammers home the fact that you cannot drink then drive a car.

My goal is to make sure that if a person is going out to have a good time, they will figure out how to get there and back home without driving themselves.