Why are people this stupid?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

There recently was a bad accident in town, caused by a drunk driver.

According to what I've read in the paper so far, the drunk driver began his evening by smoking two bowls of marijuana.

Then he went to a birthday party at a local bar and had five beers (or was it seven? I forget) and two mixed drinks.

Then he went to another bar, where he had two more beers, two more mixed drinks, and a shot of tequila.

After all that, he still saw himself fit to drive a car. He went roaring down city streets at 70 mph, but didn't make it too far before broad-siding another car.

Two guys in the other car died. A third passenger is still in the hospital in critical condition. Of course, the drunk driver and all the passengers in his car received only minor injuries.

I heard from a co-worker last night that the drunk driver bailed out of jail, and then tried to commit suicide. He's apparently now back in jail. If he gets out again, there will be a few people willing to help drunk driver achieve his goal of offing himself.

[sms001]

Just caught a snippet on the radio last week of a GB area man arrested on his 11th DUI.
And I don't think anyone can answer your question, Irv. I hate driving even a little buzzed. I wanna relax and know that nothing bad is gonna happen. To me, or, as in this sad case, to anyone else.

[EvilEmpryss]

*bites back hard on the urge to go deep into fratching territory regarding drunk driving equaling premeditated murder/attempted murder*

I hope he and all other drunk drivers get the book thrown at them.

[Crescent Cat]

Honestly I think drunk drivers should have their licenses revoked permanently on the first offense. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

[telecom_goddess]

Honestly I think drunk drivers should have their licenses revoked permanently on the first offense. Driving is a privilege, not a right.

I agree with this 100 percent.

[blas]

Couple of weeks ago, I was stuck at home because it was shitting outside like mad (oh, wait, when isn't it lately?) and I didn't feel like going anywhere, so it was late, my parents were asleep, I was snuggled up on here or on my bed or something or other....and Facebook started blowing up about gunshots and a chase on the highway just a few miles from here.

Some dumbass was about to get nailed for his, like 11th or 12th DUI, and just like my stupid ex, his mindset OH HELL NO I AM NOT GOING TO JAIL SO I'M GONNA TAKE OFF! Yeah, well....5-6 inches of completely untouched snow (cities will not pay overtime here, therefore, any nighttime snow, forget it, not plowing till morning or Mondays if it happens on the weekends)....trying to evade the cops....NOT smart.

[Shalom]

We recently had a similar case around here. Young couple expecting their first child got worried because the baby hadn't moved for a while, took a cab to the hospital on a Saturday night. They get T-boned by some idiot ex-con doing 60mph in a 30 zone in a borrowed BMW. Both parents-to-be are killed; the baby is delivered by emergency C-section and dies the next day; driver of the BMW legs it on foot and is arrested in Pennsylvania a few days later. (Well he couldn't drive off, his engine was in the cab's back seat.) He claims he was running away from someone shooting at him. Cops immediately call bullshit on this, stating that (for a wonder) there had been no reports of shots fired anywhere in the neighborhood that night.

Now everyone and their dog knows this guy was drunk: 60 on a residential city street, half hour after the bars close, released on bail from a DWI just two weeks ago, but because they couldn't catch him until after he sobered up, they can't charge him with anything worse than leaving the scene of an accident.

There are now protests rising against the substitute judge who let this drunk driver back out on the street without suspending his license as required by law, but as the father of one of the victims pointed out, if he's gonna drive drunk, he's gonna drive unlicensed just as easily.

[blas]

Oh, it'll never stop them.

My ex bf has 5 DUIs to his name, his 5th happened nearly 2 years ago (in April), and he's only spent a few days in jail because of breaking the terms of his bond...TWICE.

He still has not served a day of jail time for the 5th DUI, which is supposed to be a felony, which is supposed to be prison time.

Oh, and to boot....it didn't matter the terms of his release on his other DUIs, he always found a way to drive.

[BrenDAnn]

We recently had a similar case around here. Young couple expecting their first child got worried because the baby hadn't moved for a while, took a cab to the hospital on a Saturday night. They get T-boned by some idiot ex-con doing 60mph in a 30 zone in a borrowed BMW. Both parents-to-be are killed; the baby is delivered by emergency C-section and dies the next day; driver of the BMW legs it on foot and is arrested in Pennsylvania a few days later. (Well he couldn't drive off, his engine was in the cab's back seat.) He claims he was running away from someone shooting at him. Cops immediately call bullshit on this, stating that (for a wonder) there had been no reports of shots fired anywhere in the neighborhood that night.

Now everyone and their dog knows this guy was drunk: 60 on a residential city street, half hour after the bars close, released on bail from a DWI just two weeks ago, but because they couldn't catch him until after he sobered up, they can't charge him with anything worse than leaving the scene of an accident.

There are now protests rising against the substitute judge who let this drunk driver back out on the street without suspending his license as required by law, but as the father of one of the victims pointed out, if he's gonna drive drunk, he's gonna drive unlicensed just as easily.

I think this made news here in Iowa, if it's the one I'm thinking of...Was the couple part of a large Jewish community there? If so, same case, and I nearly cried reading the stories about it. All I can say is there has got to be a special level of hell just for people who do these types of things.

[EricKei]

Driving is a privilege, not a right.

Very true ^_^

Tho, I wasn't aware that suspending someone's license actually gets them to stop driving >_> We have a "mugshot paper" or two here, and I can't tell you how many times I see arrest reports where someone pulled over on a traffic violation like "no turn signal" also has no usable license or insurance, has other outstanding warrants, drugs in the car, illegal presence, etc etc etc ^_^ It's never just the ONE thing

[Aethian]

There is someone on one of the routes I deliver to that finally had to give up her car cause she would just go out and drive. Why she even had a car when she hasn't had a valid license in several years is beyond me. I think what clinched it was when she took off the po trucks mirrors, side swiped the park manager car, and then got into a fender bender when she let her car get up to 60 on a hill that ends at a light.

[sms001]

It's never just the ONE thing

Stupid is non-discriminatory: if you are stupid about one thing, you're often stupid about a LOT of things.

[Pagan]

Just caught a snippet on the radio last week of a GB area man arrested on his 11th DUI.

You're news reports on New Mexico's drunk drivers? This isn't unusual here. We've got one guy that has been getting picked up for DUI for 10 years and only has gotten one conviction. The last time he was picked up, he blew a 0.12 (our limit is 0.08) and doing 111mph, more than twice the speed limit on the state highway he was on. What's maddening is that there's a (stupid), easily avoidable reason for why charges against him keep getting dropped.

Our drunks also have a propensity for driving the wrong way on the interstates.

[Food Lady]

Irv, for some reason I didn't hear about this. So sad.

[Draper Mel]

There was one here last week which involved a suburban police officer getting drunk and driving the wrong way on a major thoroughfare, killing two people. Now all the accusations of preferential treatment are starting because they set his bail at $500,000.

It almost seems like cops should be held to a higher standard, because they supposedly know better.