Please, don't drive impaired

[Warbird]

http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/15316436/article-Hundreds-attend-memorial-in-Fairbanks-walk-for-11-year-old-killed-on-way-to-school

She ran right through a group of people.  They say she was high on prescription meds.  Ran over the people, through a fence, into a yard, then put it in reverse and backed up over a mailbox and some other stuff.

At 68, she will probably spend the rest of her life in prison.  At 11, his life and every possibility therein was unfairly snuffed out.   :'(

[doctorb]

What else do you need to know?  Another sad tale in a long, long list of sad tales.

[DanG]

Sad indeed!

We should also keep in mind that not all impairments are chemically induced.  Distractions such as texting, etc, fatigue, and physical disablilities are impairments as well.

[beenthere]

DanG right DanG

A 19 yr old girl, decided that her far right lane of a crowded 4 lane I-road in Milwaukee was backing up as she saw an open path across the other lanes and took off across those lanes. I caught her in the 3rd lane when she hit the brakes in front of me (far left lane opening closed) and I couldn't stop. Air bags went off, totaled my daughter's van and no injuries. This gal was calm as could be, like no big deal. She saw an opening in 55 mph traffic and went for it. Admitted that she shouldn't have done that.

Takes very little to cause an accident.

[DanG]

I forgot to mention, youth is an impairment as well. ;) :D

[Magicman]

And sadly, so is age.   :'(

I had to ask my Mom for her keys.  She took them down from the peg and gave them to me, and I simple hung them back up on the same peg.  I guess that it was symbolic.  She never drove again, but both of us knew that if there was an emergency and I could not get there quickly enough, that she could still drive.

[kderby]

I actually went to the MADD web page last week looking for who is working to address this issue.  There was a local newspaper story about a man who had been in Rehab 23 times before he plowed into a young mother.  The List of charges that the District attorney had let slide over the years was impressive.  The pending lawsuit is against the bar and the sister/brother in law who loaned him the car to drive.  This guy is in jail but the young woman is dead. 

As a culture, how can we address this on going violation?

Kderby

[doctorb]

Thats tough to do, but it's going to require mandatory sentencing on the first offense, even if you're the only bread-winner for a family of four.  When one of your neighbors or friends spends time in the slammer, and loses his house because he can't make the mortgage payment from jail, the rate of DUI will precipitously fall and innocent victims will be spared.  We reward unacceptable behavior by permiting people to have chance after chance.  Is society ready to stomach real and across the board punishment?  Nothing will change unless we, as a society, buck up and shut this down. 

If we really wanted to stop it, instead of roadside sobriety check points, why not have a cop outside every bar with a breath testing machine.  That way no one's arrested, and no one is injured.  People who are over the limit are provided rides home, at their expense.  They can pick up their keys in the morning.  If we wanted to solve this, we could.  It would take money and commitment, but society could get this done.

[WH_Conley]

I glance through the court news in the local weekly paper. Being a small community, you know all the names, if you know the individual or not. Over the years, "Good Old Joe", that had 2 beers on the way home from work has about quit getting caught. He was the one that loses his license for 30 days, $500.00 fine and $500.00 court costs and his auto insurance goes up. The other guys that never worked and never will are still getting driving on revoked license, still being declared indigent, costs waived and 7 days in jail. The working fellow, you never see his name in there the second time. I think the message is getting across. There needs some way to get the message to the ones that enjoy 3 hots and a cot. 

Doctorb, we had a New Years Eve party one year, one of the party goers was a city cop. He brought a portable breath tester. Check your keys in, blow in the tube to get them back. Had some grumbling, everybody got home safe.

[Kansas]

Just remember this. You throw the offender in the slammer, and he loses his house, that means his wife and kids will wind up on the taxpayer dole. And he eats courtesy of the state in prison. You have to be careful with draconian sentencing. In the end, someone will pay. Most likely the tax payer. I am not in favor of drunk driving, or drug impaired driving. But just remember one of the laws of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That applies to heavy fines and sentences for the lower and middle class on drug and alcohol offenses, various moving violations, etc. In the end, families and the kids pay. And the taxpayers foot the whole bill.

[doctorb]

Well, Kansas, in my view we need to be more Draconian with drunk drivers.  Every one of us who takes a drink now and then has been behind the wheel when we should not have, but the real suffering is heaped upon the victims of his accident, who he injures or kills.  Yes, his family suffers greatly as well, no doubt.  But, only when the legal consequences of match the magnitude of the horror they inflict can we start to see a decrease in this crime. 

To decriminalize this act, society must do something like I outlined above.  Catch them before they get into a driver seat.  Then they can get home and sleep it off, their families are embarrassed but not destitute, and the innocents injured by them are still with us.

So I would suggest a two pronged attack -with mandatory sentences for those caught drunk behind the wheel, and a social program that would prevent these people from ever getting there in the first place.   

[Warbird]

Capitol punishment and prohibition!   :

[Norm]

I'm sorry but I have to side with Kansas on this. I'm all for the habitual drinkers being punished but seems we have lowered the percentage for arrest to a point where a couple of beers will get you hammered with consequences. The harsh laws are not stopping the habitual drinkers.

Yes it's a tragedy when someone is hurt or killed in an auto accident involving alcohol but so is any auto accident that has this happen.

As for MADD it's nothing more than the temperance movement with a new calling card.

[doctorb]

Norm-

I agree that the levels have not been realistic and can create a huge problem where very little existed.  They need to be nationally standardized.  We need to rethink how we handle this situation, IMO.  Take away the jail time for most offenders by pre-driving screening.  This will catch a large percentage of the offenders before they are put in jail and before they hurt somebody.  Sounds crazy, I know, but actual prevention of the problem is better than the threat of punnishment for the problem.  The threat of severe penalties has not prevented people from driving drunk. 

So save the harsh penalties for those who skirt the law, and set up a system to get you home when you overdo without criminal charges.  Fewer people in jail; fewer innocent people injured. 

I am sure I stand alone on this, and I respect the other view.  After 20 years in a trauma center, I guess I have seen too much thoughtless death and destruction.  I've looked into the eyes of the families of the victims and I can't forget it.

[Warbird]

Actually doc, you don't stand alone at all.  I agree with parts of both 'sides'.  We could have better prevention methods built into vehicles.  We have the technology, and the long term cost to taxpayers to implement this would likely be less than the ongoing cost of punishment.  However, are we ready for the government to mandate that all vehicles must have some sort of BAC measurement device for it to be operated?

It is a slippery slope.  Personally, I have enough gov't regulation in my life.  But then, I don't drive drunk/impaired.  On the other hand, I have 2 family members who've been arrested for DUI's.  1 has been arrested twice and he had definitely consumed more than "a couple of beers".

Norm, I absolutely agree with your comment on MADD.  I also agree that the BAC percentages have been lowered to the point of being ridiculous because someone with the body weight of my wife could conceivably be over the limit after half a beer!  Also, the science of the portable breathalyzers is not exact, no matter what they tell you.  Without drawing blood, it cannot be exactly computed.

And that's just alcohol.  What about folks being impaired on prescription meds?  Folks who are law abiding citizens and good people?  Is it a man's fault if he takes the prescribed amount of a drug, has his judgment impaired to the point that when he gets hungry, he hops in his car and drives to a restaurant, causing an accident along the way?  Is it the physician's fault?  How can we prove he wasn't abusing his prescription meds?

There is no easy or cheap answer here.  And the problem will continue to get worse as the population density increases, as more people can't handle the stress of today's lifestyles thereby turning to more alcohol to cope, and as more people look to pills for easy and quick fixes.

Just MHO.  You know what they say about opinions.  ;)  Here's my $0.02 deposit.  *ching ching* 

[WH_Conley]

Doc, count me in your corner. 17 years EMS, I picked up a lot of the pieces that never made it to the trauma center. Dealing with the families is the worst part of the job.

Warbird touched on a problem about prescription drugs, that has got to be a bigger can of worms than alcohol around here.

[kderby]

I was in emergency medicine as well.  The drunk that hit our favorite Doc and her husband on the freeway died at the scene.  The doctor's husband was administering CPR when we arrived with the ambulance.  The Doc was not seriously injured so I stayed with her.  The Paramedic went over to the husband and the fatality.  I'll never forget seeing the husband trying to save the man who had just slammed into them.

What excuse do we offer for the dead drunks family, the Doc and her husband?  I know prohibition does not work.  I do not have an answer but I am sure looking for one.  So often it is a young strong wonderful human that is killed or maimed.  Is the price of "freedom," to die or kill others because of impaired driving?

Pretty painful memories and I have not lost a loved one to this issue.  In my younger days, I did party and drive drunk.  I guess I got lucky.  I am not morally superior.  I am just tired of the destruction.

kderby