DUI

Sixteen year-old Kayla Preuss of Highland, California died from head injuries after losing control of her vehicle and crashing on I-10. Phone records suggest that moments before the fatal accident she was sending a text message that may have been a contributing factor in her death. Fox News ran the following headline:

Girl in Fatal Wreck Sent Text Message Moments Before Crash

Her mother also went on the record warning others of the dangers of DWT, driving while texting.

Preuss' mother Kelly said she hopes the accident will make other people think before texting and driving. ~ Fox

Oh, by the way, did I mention she was also DRUNK!

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I am really impressed by the Pennsylvania DUI Association and its ongoing effort “to address the DUI problem in all of its many stages -- from prevention to enforcement up to, and including, adjudication and rehabilitation.” They produce there own public service announcements, raise public awareness though special events, and offer a huge range of training and certification courses. There is a massive amount of info and links available on the Team DUI website, but one of the coolest things you will find there is the Safety Bug.

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Yesterday I did a piece on the latest drunk driving support memo from Sarah Longwell of the American Beverage Institute. In this article she basically tries to minimize the damage caused by intoxicated drivers by saying that alcohol-related statistics are grossly exaggerated by activist groups.

The number of deaths that activist groups attribute to drunk driving is grossly exaggerated. Last year, federal statisticians classified almost 18,000 deaths as "alcohol-related." However, alcohol-related does not mean alcohol-caused. In fact, that figure includes anyone killed in a crash in which at least one person (driver, pedestrian, cyclist, etc.) was estimated to have had any trace of alcohol. ~ Tampa Tribune

Unfortunately it is Mrs. Longwell who is misrepresenting the statistics here, the average BAC of fatally injured drunken drivers is .16, that’s twice the legal limit. Just for the record, almost 80% of all alcohol-related traffic fatalities are caused by someone who is legally drunk. It has been my (considerable and relevant) experience that alcohol related accidents are actually underreported if anything. While on the topic I figured I would share just the latest exaggerated instance of an alcohol-related traffic death.

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Hat Tip and thanks to TDA reader AnnaZ for the heads up on this one!
Sarah Longwell is the managing director of the American Beverage Institute (ABI) in Washington, D.C. The ABI is an association of restaurants that just happen to make the majority of their profits not from food, but alcohol sales. So this puts her in the unenviable position of having to defend those that drink and drive to and from these particular profit centers.

I had dubbed her with the admittedly hyperbolic tag of Hitler’s cheerleader in past posts, but after reading her last rant about how the dangers of intoxicated driving are overblown I decided to promote her to one of Satan’s cheerleaders.

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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A woman with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit for driving allegedly backed over her mother and left the scene even though loved ones yelled, "You killed grandma," police said. ~ Fox News

When I first saw this headline I thought maybe it is just a joke or a lighthearted parody like the holiday’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”. Of course as you can see below, when the story is real the song loses its charm.

Grandma got run over by her own dear
Backing out of the driveway trying to leave
You can say there's no such thing as Satan,
But as for me an' Grandpa, we believe.

She'd been drinking too much beer
And we begged her not to go.
But she was intent on transportation,
How she staggered out the door we’ll never know.

When we found grandma in the driveway,
At the scene lying flat on her back
She had motor oil on her forehead,
And across her torso an incriminating tire track.

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Keeping in mind that the driver of this Russian tank (actually it’s an anti-air armored vehicle) stumbled drunk into a store and bought two bottles of vodka and then proceeded to run over a couple of houses, listen to what the officer says at the end of this clip.

The driver was absolutely sober, because he was going to military exercises.

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Much of the misery caused by inebriants and addicts goes unseen or is passed off as a different problem instead of yet another symptom of our disease.

Slow and painful: It is the stress of a helpless parent, the repercussions of a neglected child, health issues, or the money that is just no longer there.

Quick and deadly: Violence, crime, death and suicide happen every day because of drugs and alcohol yet their cultural acceptance is strong as ever. It takes something truly spectacular to raise the eye of the public. Earlier this week in Mexico, a city official provided this prerequisite when he took the picture above of a drunk driver plowing through a bicycle race... a very powerful image that is hard to ignore.

But for most it’s still just a photograph.

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I always enjoy getting mail from TDA visitors and regulars alike. Some are just simple thanks or words of encouragement, several have been mean-spirited diatribes, and then there are those that I really like with links to relevant content.

First out of the bag is a missive from Marti of MADD who sent me a link to this story from Fort Bliss, Texas where the base commander has raised the legal drinking age to 21. “Citing too many drunken-driving crashes and arrests and too many fights, the new commanding general has raised the drinking age on base from 18 to 21, bringing 17,000-soldier Fort Bliss into line with what has been the law in the rest of Texas since 1986.” Marti and I met up after I wrote this post on recent discussions to lower the drinking age, especially considering our fighting men.

As usual my good friend Anna Z is on the ball sending me a follow-up on the story about those arrested for DUI in New York that had their mug shots put on display for all to see in the local newspapers. Seems that one of the drunken drivers, 17 year-old Gianna Vigliotti, had a rather unique excuse for blowing a 0.15 on the BAC meter (0.08 is legal limit)... she was making out with a drunk boyfriend. She apparently had a more difficult time explaining her inability walk a straight line, beer in the car, and the empty in her purse.

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Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi made good on a promise to publish the names and faces of everyone charged with DUI in his county over the Memorial Day weekend after one of his officers was critically injured when an intoxicated driver rammed his patrol car. The police officer, Kenneth Baribault, was already on the side of the road processing a different drunk driver.

Mr. Suozzi’s actions have many discussing the legal and ethical merits of using shame as a deterrent to those that would drive under the influence; with good arguments to be made on both sides it makes for a good debate topic. I myself have spoken out against similar tactics, but really I have mixed emotions on the subject- especially when someone is injured or dies.

When I think of this brave officer and the fate of his little boy on one hand I think every possible means should be used to combat DUI, but on the other I wonder if the embarrassment and trauma may make a drinking problem worse insuring even worse future problems. Of course if I had a third hand I would say what doesn't make a drinking problem worse... when I was drinking I could turn sand in my shoes into an excuse for a four day bender.

Ergo, my mixed emotions.

In reality neither shame or license revocation is going to stop a problem drinker and may even worsen the situation, but what of those normal people for which it may prove an effective tactic- maybe even preventing a DUI or slide into addiction?

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Here’s a little bit of local news that caught my attention this week. Patsy Hamaker, a stripper at the Birmingham, AL gentlemen’s club The Furnace, is suing her employer because managers allowed her to leave in an intoxicated state. On her drive home she was involved in an accident in which she was injured and was also charged with DUI.

"Defendants ... allowed a dangerous condition to exist by allowing said plaintiff to leave its establishment in such an intoxicated state while under said defendants' supervision and control," according to the suit.

It is part of Patsy’s “job” to scam club patrons into buying her overpriced and what are usually watered down drinks, she does share a percentage of the sales of these drinks with the club. However I still fail to see where it is anyone’s fault but her own that she was injured and charged with DUI.

Sounds like to me she's got a lap dance lawyer that is urging her to play the victim card... if she gets an all male jury it may even work.

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