A South Carolina state senator was ticketed for public intoxication on Sunday while sitting in his parked car, according to reports.

Now, he has spoken out.

Senator Tom Davis, a Republican, left a party where he drank alcohol, and almost immediately realized that he was not sober enough to be driving, officials reported according to WSPA.

Davis then pulled over in a nearby lot, turned his car off, and sat there for over an hour, presumably to clear his head.

He waited for over an hour there, at which time he was approached by a Lexington Police Department officer who ticketed him for public intoxication. He was reportedly cooperative with law enforcement.

He was notably not charged with driving under the influence, according to the report.

Davis has expressed extreme remorse for his lapse in judgment.

"I am ashamed and embarrassed by what happened last night and I want to say I’m sorry to my family and to my constituents," Davis said in a statement according to WSPA.

"I’m not going to deflect or excuse this mistake. Instead, I am going to learn from it and move forward with a greater sense of responsibility.”

“I look forward to the opportunity to prove to my family and my constituents that I have learned from this mistake."

It was New Year's weekend, but that really doesn't matter.

Drunk driving is one of the most reckless and selfish things a person can do.

I've lost someone to drunk driving. I profoundly wish I was the only one who has.

While the most obvious choice when it comes to this type of situation is to never get behind the wheel in the first place, Davis did make the right call in getting off the road as soon as he realized the enormity of the mistake that he was making.

He's right to be ashamed. He's right to be embarrassed.

But he's also right to take ownership of his misstep.

At this point, all we can ask of him is to take one step in the right direction, follow it with another, then another, and not look back.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.