PLEASE, do not drink and drive. Warn your teens about being out all hours

[mnhtnbb]

My youngest son graduated high school in June. Already, one of his classmates has now been killed
by a drunk driver who lost control of his car, went through a red light, and hit the passenger
side of the car his classmate was in. Her boyfriend, who was driving, is badly hurt and in the hospital.

Please, warn your kids about being out all hours of the night. There are so many drunks out there. And please, do not drink and drive or let your friends drink and drive.


http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1139428.html

[Danger Mouse]

1. I hope they lock that bastard up and throw away the key.

[Wcross]

2. My sympathy to Lillian's family.

A young life wasted by a pig who thought nothing of other people when he got behind the wheel drunk.

[latebloomer]

3. Sounds like both cars were speeding

Doesn't sound like they were on a highway, yet they were going 50 mph.

And why was a 17-year-old out at 5 AM?

This is a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided with some limits and common sense.

[CC]

6. Not sure about where you live or

the road where this happened but where I live there are a lot of roads whose speed limit is 50 or 55 mph that also have cross roads and traffic signals. As for being 17 and driving at 5 AM, most of the kids (and grown ups) that head to the beach or mountains around here will leave early in the morning. I have a nephew that leaves at 4 AM to go to work and know a lot of kids that leave that early to go to work. Hell I have a 15 year old grandson that leaves for work around 4 AM for his summer job. It is as a roofer and they start early so they can be done early and avoid some of the worst heat of the day.

If the other driver was drunk, lost control of his car and hit them it is his fault, not the victims.

[latebloomer]

8. You make good points

am I am not trying to blame the victim. The drunk driver is obviously the one to blame.

As the mother of teens, however, I do try to help them make choices that will minimize their risks in a dangerous world.

Teens can make stupid choices. I know. I made them, and suffered as a result.

[CC]

9. Oh I understand that.

I may be a bit touchy since I know too many families that have lost one of more kids to drunk drivers and have sat through too many court hearings where the defense tried to lay some of the blame on the victims. I also know of at least one DD that to this day (7.5 years later) thinks it was the kid he killed fault for it all because he shouldn't of been walking to his friends.

adding
The randomness of who is killed or injured is very scary. You can do a lot of things to make yourself safer but until everyone realizes how lethal they can be while driving under the influence there is only so much others can do.

[mnhtnbb]

11. The two kids were on a divided highway that has a 45 mph posted speed limit

The guy who hit them was on a road with 35 mph speed limit--AND the intersection where he went through
the red light does NOT go straight through; he would have had to turn left or right.

I have no idea why those kids were out so late--or early in the a.m. I've always told my boys
they should plan to be home by 1 a.m.

[CC]

4. My sympathies to the family and friends

of both kids.

Might I add that what hours you drive do not matter when it comes to drunk drivers. Yes there may be a higher risk around bar closing time but people are killed by drunk drivers all hours of the day. In Baltimore a couple years ago a 7 year old was killed on the way to school by a DD. Her mom was walking her to school along with her baby brother. DD came out of no where. It was 7:30 AM.

All that separates you from a drunk driver is a yellow line.

[latebloomer]

5. some tragedies are completely random

others you can try to forestall.

[CC]

7. You can try

but you can only do what you can to avoid things. You have no control over the people in other cars. I may be a bit to close to the victim side of things then again I know how you can do everything right and still lose a loved one to a drunk driver.

[vard28]

10. Been there on the receiving end

and I was almost killed by a drunk driver at 5:03 a.m. I was working actually, had about 2 hours left on my shift. The guy was 52 years old; his THIRD dwi; had no valid license; had no insurance.

Drunk Driving is NOT an accident, it is done on PURPOSE, regardless of the reason the person gets behind the wheel. People who are just living their lives should not have to plan their driving/activities around when drunks are more likely to be out on the roads.

I could go on for hours telling first hand stories of how drunk driving shatters people's lives, but thankfully I am still able to function enough to get to carry on the rest of my day by being alive to do so. I'm just not able to perform my career duties thanks to the fuckin' asshole drunk that stole that from me. So I will enjoy my life as it is, as I do everyday, and take my kid to stop by the firehouse to see his dad/my husband at work and be happy.

If you have a Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter in your town or city, sit in on a few of their meetings if you get a chance. You meet some really nice people. :hi: