Real life: ‘I drove away after an accident because I was drunk’

Maartje (21) lives in The Hague with three housemates. She is still studying and was always found in the nightlife. Normally, she would get on her scooter at the end of the evening, but she hasn't done that for almost a year now. Her surroundings think she has become wise, but they have no idea how that happened.

‘I can no longer imagine that I used to take the scooter so often after drinking. Of course, it's easy to say that in hindsight, because I didn't even think about it. For my sixteenth birthday, my parents gave me a scooter, and because of that, I left my bike behind. A bit lazy, of course, but I mainly found it ideal.

Everything changed when I turned eighteen and was officially allowed to drink alcohol. Before that, I was actually quite well-behaved: I hardly ever had a glass of wine. Only when I graduated from high school and moved out on my own did I discover going out and drinking.

My parents live in a small town near The Hague, so the choice of where I wanted to live was quite easy. Many friends also moved to The Hague, and together with three girlfriends, I found a nice, big house that we could move into right away. Not that we were home much, because we quickly found ourselves in the pub four nights a week.

I rode home on the scooter every time, no matter how much I had drunk. At first, friends had an opinion about it and said I should walk or take a taxi because it was just too dangerous, but as my surroundings got used to the fact that I was always the one getting on the scooter, the comments faded away.

Last year, it went wrong. We went for drinks at one of our favorite spots on the other side of the city. Around half past one at night, I rode back. As always, I wasn't really worried: I had driven this route so many times. But then a girl came cycling from the right, and I didn't see her. I always have music on, and I just wasn't paying attention because I had also had too many glasses of wine.

It was too late to brake, and we crashed hard into each other. I tried to brake as hard as I could and didn't fall hard at all because I ended up in the bushes. The girl I hit was less fortunate and lay on the sidewalk next to the bike path. I saw a lot of blood on her arm and head, which made me panic, and she became even more upset from my panic.

She could still talk, but she was in a lot of pain. I asked her if she could call someone and stayed with her when she was on the phone with her boyfriend. After that, I rode away. I still feel incredibly ashamed, but I only thought: get out of here. So selfish. I knew I would have a serious problem if the police showed up; I would lose my driver's license.

I still wonder every day how that girl is doing. She was conscious, but the thought of the blood... I never thought I would be so cowardly.’

In this unusual time, we asked people for their honest story. To avoid hurting others, Maartje's name has been changed.