A co-worker/friend's wife was killed by a DWI driver Saturday evening around 7:45 PM. She was on her way home from dropping off food to a fellow church member who is recovering from a recent heart attack and was hit head on while in her Ford Fusion by a big Dodge Ram pickup. She was 36 and she and her husband have two small girls.

I did a quick look at the CDC website and found that alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounted for 28% of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.

Of the traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.

Drugs other than alcohol (legal and illegal) are involved in about 16% of motor vehicle crashes.

It's a bad deal and there is little someone can do to prevent these types of incidents (they are certainly NOT accidents, people drink and drive on purpose).

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Live long and prosper

I hate these stories. My best friend was killed by a drunk driving a semi down Vail pass. Mark (20 yrs old) was one of that guys three victims that day

Very sad. Prayers for the family.

I presided in a case one time where eight young men, all members of the University of Wyoming cross country team, were killed in a drunk driving incident. Talk about feeling helpless! Worst day I had in 21 years on the bench was listening to the families of those young men talk about what might’ve been.

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Everybody could shoot

Mark’s dad was a hard bitten Korean War veteran. He had to identify what was left of his son. It broke him. He died two years later

Sorry for the loss.

I spent 10 years on the Wyoming Highway Patrol. During that time I had investigated wrecks involving drunk drivers that killed 53 people.

One of those involved the deaths of five college boys returning to Laramie from drinking 3.2 beer in Ft Collins Colorado before they raised the age limit there.
It is safe to say I hate drunks in any form.

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Eccentric old coot

The heck with more gun laws. If the first time a driver got busted blowing above a .12 they got 6 months and never ever got to drive again it would not break my heart one little bit. 2nd DUI even at .08 same story.

I'm sorry for your loss.

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Jorge

Sorry to hear that Puller.

Judging by the way people drive around here, I’d say the majority of folks here are impaired in one form or the other. Nothing else would explain their stupidity.

I saw enough pain and agony otj due to impaired drivers.

I have zero tolerance for the types who put others in jeopardy, ZERO.

Wanna drink, stay the hell home.

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Sure you did

In the last 37 years I have seen the results of far too much drunk driving, but these days it is other drugs causing issues on kiwi roads. Less than 10 miles from my home are 7 crosses on the roadside caused by an idiot smoking synthetic cannabis while driving. One cross is for a baby, another for a child under 10.

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View from down under

I did DWI enforcement for 8 years. Got sick of the court system, lawyers (sorry forum lawyers), and idiots who were repeat offenders. Switched to CSI until I retired.

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Support Israel!

Alcoholism is a huge problem. I married one when I was too young, raised a family with her and stuck with it for 28 yrs. 2 great kids,successful adults now,but I’d never do it again..

Here in Vegas, alcohol is available 24/7. EVERY DAY. No exceptions for holidays. I've been advised not to drive too early on weekends, say 7-8AM, to allow those drivers with a "nose full" from the previous evening to reach home. It is advice I follow. Several years ago, there was a fatal accident at 2AM on a road that LVSteve would recognize. There are 3 lanes on each side. There is no traffic at 2AM. Yet a fatal accident occurred. You can't make this stuff up. Worse, people are blase about such happenings. Let me stop.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

A friend who retired after 30 years in the Highway Patrol told me that if you're driving late on a Saturday night one out of every three pair of headlights coming towards you is on a vehicle being driven by a drunk. I figure if anyone should know...

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Pisgah

Too many second chances given over here. Back in the UK you blow .08 and you are walking for a year except in a few very rare hardship cases. Those usually involve being a carer for a sick or disabled family member and living very rural. If you live in a reasonably sized town or a big city, get used to the bus or a bicycle. UK DUI laws are the reason I lost the taste for alcohol 30+ years ago.

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Release the Kraken

I've never met anybody who had an alcoholic in the family who enjoyed it.
When I was in the Army in Germany they emphasized that DWI was a felony under German law.
Years ago I read in one state someone proposed that those convicted of DWI should be forced to paint their cars blaze orange.

Very sorry for your friend's loss...but it is preventable, or at least more so than the CJ system is now doing...

I spent 25 years "in the business", 15 as a police officer and 10 as Probation/Parole...and I can tell you the courts and legislature are not near as strict as they should be with impaired drivers.

When I was with Dallas PD working the bar/disco area in the 1970s and 80s I would arrest 1-2 DWIs AN EVENING...you literally had to drive around them to get to the sub-station to get off on time if working the evening shift. And nothing ever happen to these people... I arrested this one guy FOUR TIMES...I can still remember his name.

When I was with NH P/P I had a parolee who had killed the bride to be and best man as they were heading for the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding... He did 8 years...and was eligible to get his DL back because although it had been suspended for 10 years the time started running upon suspension, not release from incarceration.

More can and should be done about these people...but it isn't.

Bob

So true, I actually grew up with a fellow forum member here and had to sever ties with him because he became a raging "functioning" alcoholic as he got older. Retired now, I imagine he's drunk everyday by noon, playing with his guns?

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

Sad news to haer Puller. A young woman doing an honorable thing, now gone, leaving 2 kids and a husband behind.

The worst thing is knowing it's going to happen but what to do.
We (family & friends) talking about who will kill someone first,
A or B, A killed a family of three, B-ran over LEO's leg leaving attempted
DWI arrest. A- did 15 years, B-did 4.
What can you do ? Both had 4-5 DWI's on the record.

I'm one of those who think DWI is 100% preventable. As such, the consequences for a DWI 1 conviction should be loss of driver's license for life. The consequence for a second DWI conviction in one's lifetime should be a public hanging on the courthouse lawn. To quote a famous fictional law enforcement character, a few public hangings would help "nip it in the bud".

I don't understand why society coddles drunk drivers.

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- Change it back -

Puller, I'm very sorry for your friend's loss...how terribly sad!

Your post reminded me of something from my own past. On Christmas Day, 1980, my next-door neighbors were hit head-on, and killed, by a drunk driver (who was also killed). They had three little girls, two of whom were in the car and were seriously injured in the crash.

It was horrifying, and shocked the small community we lived in at the time.

I will keep your friend in my prayers. Thanks for reminding us all of the risks of drinking and driving.

and our state just made cocktails to go a permanent thing, we, MT., sadly have a pretty dismal record in enforcing or punishing drunk drivers. Our fatalities every year are heavily weighted by under the influence deaths. One this year was a mom driving under the influence of drugs killed her own 10 year old son, watching the interview with the father was gut wrenching.

My 16 year old daughter was killed by a drunk and stoned 17 year old driver 21 years ago. My daughter was roller blading on a bike path when the driver lost control, skidded off the road and hit her.
My wife just served a 2 year term as National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She was on a call yesterday discussing new technology that includes passive equipment in cars that detects if a driver is impaired, legislation is in the works. My admiration for Law Enforcement is unbounded, you LE officers are the tip of the spear working to keep our roads safe.
I’m very sorry that the OP has learned first hand what the pain brought on by such a senseless act feels like. My condolences to all of you who have suffered as a result of impaired driving. April 18th would have been my daughter’s 37th birthday. Drunk and drugged driving is a scourge.
Respectfully,

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turnerriver

I can only imagine the pain of loosing a child and I appreciate the good fight your wife has engaged in.

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Live long and prosper

having quit drinking, I have heard stories from a couple of guys who were long haul truckers and hard core alkies. one did a cross country trip, dropped a load and came back to pick up a load, not knowing he had just done a trip. They both agreed that the end point job was to do oversize loads because that way they only drove during the day and could drink all night while stopped

Why are legislatures indifferent to DUI laws? Just search "(State name) lawmaker arrested for DUI" and you'll find out. The Majority Leader of the Kansas Senate was arrested last month for fleeing police, driving the wrong way on I-70, and DUI.

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μολὼν λαβέ

I haven't had a drop of alcoholic beverage of any kind in 11+ years. After
the doctor said I was type II diabetic. Before that I had drunk enough to
float a small boat. I know that many times I would have blown over .08
or .10 and drove for miles. Never a ticket or accident, maybe I was lucky
but I never drove like some fool weaving or driving 20mph.
As mentioned above many, many congress persons and let's include
judges get pole hugging knee walking drunk and rarely even get a
ticket.
Now here is another side, 3 years ago my wife and I had been to the last week of the horse races in Hot Springs, Ar. After the Arkansas
Derby three of us went out to eat, our daughter lives in Hot Springs,
my wife and daughter had a glass of wine with the meal, myself, water.
It was early Sun. morning when we were taking the bypass around
Fort Smith. I had seen a Ar. H.P. pull on the highway behind me and
continue to follow me for about 4 miles, I had my cruise set at 60, 5
miles under the limit, when the blue lights flashed. I pulled over and
turned on the dome light and rolled down the window and placed both
hands on the wheel. After a few minutes the trooper got out and ask
for my license and made the lame excuse for pulling me over that I had
crossed the white line on the shoulder, an untrue statement.
You know, I would have had more respect for the guy if he had just said
I was fishing for someone drinking.

I hate drunk drivers. Had a cousin just back from his year in Viet Nam killed by one. Did 7 years of my career in OWI enforcement & made "a lot" of OWI arrests. Legal limit then was 0.10% & made arrests from .1 to a high of .488. The only reason that guy got stopped was because he ran a red light. Worked a number of fatals including one guy killing his grandmother riding in his car & 2 drunks drag racing killing a 16 year old kid on a moped. Most only had "a couple" including those who blew a .2 or .3 or above. When asked why I was arresting them as they "hadn't hurt anyone I asked if I had to wait until they did." I hate drunk drivers.

Sad story Puller and one that is repeated way too frequently.
I quit drinking 40 years ago. A few years after that I realized I cannot stand being around a drunk person. To this day my aversion to a heavy drinker continues. I have just seen too many sad endings to the condition.
I lost two very good friends to DWI early in life. Both were driving intoxicated and thankfully they were the only ones who were killed in the accidents.

Some day, maybe, people in the US will take DWIs as serious crimes. Europe generally takes driving drunk a lot more serious. People get heavy fines, lifetime loss of drivers license and prison time. Some day, maybe.

For a LONG time, and I think this is still correct, impaired driving was the most common form of criminal homicide.

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NHI, 10-8.