Ok, on sunday Oct 8th at 3 am I woke up to a horrible sound from outside. I looked out the window and saw a small Chevy Cobalt wrapped around the tree across the street from my house. The driver (who was drunk) lost control of his car about three houses down and slid sideways into the tree. The passenger, Jocelyn Lavoie, was killed on impact. She was only 17 years old. This tragedy should not have happened, and I really wish people would wake up and realize that sooner or later their drunk driving is going to catch up with them. Everytime I leave my house I look at the shrine that has been put up in Jocelyns memory and it reminds me to slow down a little bit and be more careful behind the wheel (or handlebars)
I felt I had to post this because the accident has been on my mind for the last four days. And I hope that by reading this someone will think twice about getting behind the wheel after "tossing back a few"
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
A heartening experiment was undertaken at a location by a school, both have which currently escape me, but in any case, they hired actors to pretend to be drunk and attempt to get into their cars and drive, and in almost 75% of the cases strangers attempted to stop them, some even going so far as to take their keys and call the police.
I've never personally been touched by drunk driving, but my feeling on it is that if you go out, clean and sober, to get drunk, and you're an adult human being who knows what that means, and that you shouldn't drive, and then you go ahead and get behind the wheel instead of having a DD, it's basically murder if you end up killing someone.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
The closest personal brush I've had with it is when my dad, reflexes dulled by too much beer, dodged a dog in the road and totalled our poppy red 1965 Ford Mustang GT... That I was going to get a couple years later to restore when I got my driver's permit. *sigh*
But that in no way compares to loss of life, especially (for me) female life.
--Jonah
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: The closest personal brush I've had with it is when my dad, reflexes dulled by too much beer, dodged a dog in the road and totalled our poppy red 1965 Ford Mustang GT... That I was going to get a couple years later to restore when I got my driver's permit. *sigh*
But that in no way compares to loss of life, especially (for me) female life.
--Jonah
One think the Navy's been doing lately is a campaign to deglamorise heavy drinking, if not drinking all together. a far cry from almost 20 years ago when during my first duty station in Sigonella, Italy where i recall partying every week out in town (usually at coworker's home just for safety)
I remember many memerable boughts of shitfaced...
i suppose that's one reason i rarely get hammered anymore (the other is when i got my driver's licence while stationed in Jax, Floridah, that i would never, NEVER drink & drive. the streak is currently going on 12 years now, happlily.)
reason why i even mention 0, 0, 1, 3 is recently a shipmate drunk himself to death. Bet that was a sucky comment from the 'Safety Center's Friday Funnies email.... Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
...a shipmate drunk himself to death.
Too much Leaving Las Vegas.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Alcohol poisoning is rather more common than most people realize, I think. Poor our livers.
And Peregrinus, mind if I ask - you hold female life in higher esteem than male life? Did I read you correctly? I'm curious as to why.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
He's all about the ladies.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Well, yes. *heh* But more than that... It's still only partially-formed, but I have this vague notion that the male-to-female gender ratio should not be 50/50. I can't explain it too well as yet.
But the end result is a visceral lack of caring if I hear about a guy being killed by a drunk driver, as opposed to a sense of loss if it was a girl. Not very egalitarian, but ask me if I care.
--Jonah
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Well, (as Dr. Strangelove could tell you,) from a biological standpoint, you don't need as many men as women, since a man can impregnate many women at the same time. (Not the exact same time, obviously. Unless he's really talented.)
Posted by Saltah'na (Member # 33) on :
I think it has to do with the statistic that a majority of those who are caught driving drunk usually are male. I think it is a 2 to 1 margin.
Thus, when females are the victims of these accidents, it is thought that they are the innocent parties to these tragedies.
But yes, the problem with people driving drunk really needs to be addressed. While some people would call it an accident, others say driving drunk is not an accident, it is a choice, and it is akin to a loaded gun ready to go off.
Law and Order dove into this issue at one episode where the prosecutors attempted to charge a drunk driver with first degree murder. Seriously, a new class of laws should be made to deal with drunk driving causing death. Currently, those who kill someone while driving impaired fall into the realm of "Criminal Negligence causing death", which is a broad term and has usually lenient sentences. A completely separate category for drunk drivers with harsher penalties should be an effective deterrent.
But yes, my condolences to the female passenger. Yes, this accident should not have happened, if you can call it an accident.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
How much difference is there between driving while impaired with alcohol or impaired with an electronic device being held to you head?
Both are a choice and both have caused accidents.....
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I look fiercely down upon non-egalitarian ideas and I'll leave it at that.
Maybe we should install those court-ordered "can't start your car till ya blow" breathalaizers (sp?) in every single car...
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Well there's a point where those devices become a bit excessive. Requiring them in every new car, sure. And every car being sold on a dealer's lot, be it a new one or a used car. But retrofitting them into, say, antique cars that wouldn't even have a computerized control system in the first place would be a rather difficult task. Also, motorcycles, for instance. Although if you can keep a motorcycle balanced while drunk, I'd be mightily impressed.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
I just read in the paper that the driver is NOT being charged with impaired driving. Turns out his BAC at the time of the accident was .07. Just under the legal limit. Personally I think that's a fat seaming load of crap, since he was obviously affected enough to become overconfident in his ability to control a vehicle at high speed on an icy-wet road. I think that maybe it's time for a change in that regard. If there's any trace of alcohol in your bloodstream you shouldn't be allowed to drive. And if you get caught that should be automatic jail time.
I don't think those court ordered "can't start your car till ya blow" breathalysers are a very practical solution. They're probably expensive as hell. We're only now just getting vehicles with smart power windows that won't chop your fingers off if you happen to get them pinched. Of course it's only available for the high end models.
Also Fabrux's comment about balancing a motorcycle while drunk really struck a nerve with me since I'm a motorcyclist myself. Contrary to popular belief a lot of motorcycle enthusiasts are actually more responsible then their equivalent cage driving road companions. We've got enough to worry about already without throwing alcohol into the mix. Sure it still happens because not all of us are as responsible as we should be. I think because we're much more aware of what can happen if you make even the tiniest mistake at speed we try to minimize the chances. I've never ridden either of my bikes drunk. And I never plan to. But if I do see someone riding drunk I'll phone em in a hell of a lot faster than some guy in a car, screw motorcyclist solidarity and all that sticking together crap.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I don't know about having ANY trace of alcohol in your bloodstream. You may not like me saying this, but after a single beer, I wouldn't have a problem getting behind the wheel. Maybe we should lower the legal limit, or have specialized penalties if you have any alcohol in your blood AND you were driving recklessly - too fast for conditions, didn't have your lights on, something like that.
Heh I almost got my finger pinched off in a window once. Tore a big chunk of skin off. Hurt a *lot.*
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
Yeah, got mine pinched too, those window motors have a lot of power.
It depends on the person, I get buzzed off a single beer. Some people can drink a few before feeling anything. Problem is, it's hard to pick out a drunk driver sometime until it's too late. But I definitely agree that the legal limit should be lower.
I also hate getting pulled over for not having my lights on. The left side of my bike houses the low beams and the right side houses the high beams. The cops here know jack shit about bikes so every time I get pulled over by one I have to flip on my brights to show him that both sides do in fact work. And don't even get me started on the integrated rear turn signals...
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
lol Perhaps a police ed program of some kind?
Water weight is a big factor in how drunk you get and how quickly.
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