Imagine walking into your local bar’s restroom and a mirror begins to talk to you. You might think that you’ve had one too many drinks, but in this case, it couldn’t get any more real. Back in 2010, 26-year-old Kris Caudilla decided to drive himself home after a night of drinking. Being under the influence of alcohol caused him to drive recklessly down the wrong side of the street, ultimately crashing into a sheriff deputy’s vehicle.
Kris made it out of the crash alive, but the deputy wasn’t so lucky. Soon after, Kris was charged with a DUI and sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter. There isn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t remember the life he took. “I try to replay the scene in my head and see where things went wrong,” Kris says. “But mostly I just think about him and his family.”
We Save Lives decided to collaborate with Kris in an attempt to bring awareness to the dangers and consequences of drunk driving. The inmate sits in front of a camera that plays video straight to a popular California nightclub’s bathroom mirror in real time. As the bar-goers wash their hands, Kris pops up in the mirror and proceeds to tell them his story.
As expected, the strangers are startled by the talking mirror. One man asks, “Is this a joke?” After hearing everything the inmate has to say, the strangers thanked him. Kris hoped to stop even just one driver from driving home drunk that night. “Take a good look in the mirror. Should you be driving tonight?”