Nicole Richie: "Jail Sentence is a Blessing in Disguise"  8/2/07

Nicole Richie has called her upcoming jail sentence "a blessing in disguise" because the pregnant socialite/actress accepts she could have killed someone.

Richie was sentenced to four days in jail after pleading guilty to driving under the influence last month (Jul07), and she has until 28 September (07) to physically serve her time.

But the 25-year-old isn't grumbling about her sentence, insisting the authorities were right to arrest her for driving her Mercedes Benz the wrong way down California State Route 134 highway in Burbank, California in December (06).

After failing an on-field sobriety test, Richie admitted to having smoked marijuana and taking a Vicodin painkiller.

And she accepts Superior Court Commissioner Steven K. Lubell's warning that she could have been charged with manslaughter.

She tells the new issue of OK! magazine, "I could have killed someone... I think this was a blessing in disguise."

The pregnant The Simple Life star adds, "This year has been full of lessons learned and soul-searching and realizing I'm an adult.

"It's time to take responsibility and not take the easy way out."

She goes on to say that she is "definitely" over her addictions and that if she could take the night of her arrest back, she would: "I never want to make a mistake like that again. I never want to possibly take another life in my hands... My life is clearly going to slow down."