Bier Meister Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 who has personal experience with this, on one side or the other? i have had a very good friend killed by a drunk driver on a lonely road in wyoming. a mutual friend was the original producer for the road rules and real world ( he now does all of the xxx ink shows). some of you might recall the conservative gal from arizona in real world sf (rachel). she was dating my friend. they were on there way back from jackson hole and a semi drifted over and injured several and killed my friend gavin. you might recall in that road rules rachel started the show injured....they dedicated the season to him. i think about it often and it still breaks my heart. he was lost way too early Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brentastic Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I've never had anyone close to me die as a result of a drunk driver. I do have at least 4 friends who have DUIs - I do not. I think all of us are guilty of driving while drunk at some point in our lives and there have been times for me where I clearly shouldn't have been driving - it's not something we should be proud of. Despite all of this, I'm very sorry about your friend. It's not fair that he had to go that early before fulfilling a full life. Sometimes things happen to good people for no apparent reason - I like to imagine there is a greater good playing out that is beyond our comprehension. I have had 2 very close friends die in their early 20s. One was a lifelong friend and the other an Air Force buddy. Each friend had special traits and characteristics that were capable of changing people for the better. Why they were not allowed to go on in life and affect more people is not known but I think of them often and I try to take all their positives and apply them to my life. Quick true story, my one friend, Chris (in high school, he once walked into a steak n' shake buck naked with only shoes and socks on, asked for a coke, then casually went and used the washroom and left peacefully. A harmless prank) , was a lifelong friend since 1st grade. He was 23 when he died. About a year after his passing there were about 5 of us gathered in one of my buddie's garages drinking and reminiscing about Chris when the phone rings (yes he had a phone in his garage) at exactly midnight. I was standing next to the phone so I asked Tom if I could answer. When I picked up the phone there was nothing but dead air. No dial tone, nobody answering my pleas of "hello". Just dead air. We were in the middle of talking about Chris when this happened. Could it be coincidence? Certainly. But all 5 of us that night absolutely knew it was Chris letting us know he was there. It was a powerful moment for all of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 A lady in my neighborhood just got her third and her sentencing hearing is next week. She pleaded guilty to DUI, leaving the scene, reckless driving and failure to drive on the right side of the road. I don't know the exact details but she is a complete whackjob and whatever jail time she gets will not be enough. She should have her license permanently revoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darin3 Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Unfortunately I have an all-too personal experience. Super Bowl Sunday, 2004, I was on the way back from Tijuana with a buddy and a buddy of his who'd I had met maybe one time before the night previous. We had been partying in TJ all night, and left around 6 or 7am. The buddy's buddy decided he'd drive first (we lived about 2 hours north). He fell asleep at the wheel, ran us up on an embankment of I-5 in north San Diego and rolled the truck, killing my buddy who was in the front seat. I was laying down in the back cab part of the truck. Had I been sitting upright I would have suffered the same fate. I spent the Super Bowl (Nipplegate) hopped up on morphine in a hospital bed with a broken rib, cracked vertebrae, concussion, scrapes/road rash and a sad/heavy heart. The buddy's buddy blew a 0.85, a hair above the legal limit but obviously considered drunk and spent a couple years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. I haven't been the same since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 my god d! going to college in sd and doing that drive in the morning....i can only knock on wood that i didn't have to go through that. we were very lucky, as we were much less responsible back then and more reckless. sorry bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brentastic Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Unfortunately I have an all-too personal experience. Super Bowl Sunday, 2004, I was on the way back from Tijuana with a buddy and a buddy of his who'd I had met maybe one time before the night previous. We had been partying in TJ all night, and left around 6 or 7am. The buddy's buddy decided he'd drive first (we lived about 2 hours north). He fell asleep at the wheel, ran us up on an embankment of I-5 in north San Diego and rolled the truck, killing my buddy who was in the front seat. I was laying down in the back cab part of the truck. Had I been sitting upright I would have suffered the same fate. I spent the Super Bowl (Nipplegate) hopped up on morphine in a hospital bed with a broken rib, cracked vertebrae, concussion, scrapes/road rash and a sad/heavy heart. The buddy's buddy blew a 0.85, a hair above the legal limit but obviously considered drunk and spent a couple years in prison for vehicular manslaughter. I haven't been the same since. Wow, it's incredible you survived that. That is just a tragic story, D. What a horrifying situation that must have been. I can't even fathom something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 A dear friend of mine was driving to the airport at 8am to fly home to his wife and kids and was t-boned by a bunch of kids on their way home from a bender in Atlantic City. He's dead now and that really, really sucks badly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bier Meister Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 all crappy, unnecessary losses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 I was a passenger in a car that ran over and killed someone. I was only 19 at the time and while my buddy that was driving ended up a hair under the legal limit, the guy on the minibike that drove out in front of us was way over. He, the driver of the minibike died on the spot. It really sucked. I would say that I had been guilty of drunk driving plenty of times before I was even old enough to drink. Since, then I am not sure. I never drove if I felt like I was drunk but you know how that goes? Now probably never not one single time since I was about 25. I have walked home from a pretty far of place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljbrun Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 (edited) Sorry to hear of your loss. 3 stories In 2007 my next door neighbor (he and his fiance had only recently moved in, so I didn't really know him well) was killed in a drunk driving accident after leaving a bar where he and a friend watched the Red Sox win the World Series. Both were drunk. Dan was a Sales Manager at a local Toyota dealership, the car belonged to the dealership and friends and family knew he never would have let anyone else drive the car. Unfortunately for his friend, the Police saw it differently and the friend spent the next couple of years trying to clear his name. http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/902011...rosecution.html About 40 years ago, a 17 year old cousin of mine was driving drunk and got into an accident where a young girl died. My cousin spent some time in prison (a couple, maybe 4 years, not sure). Around the time he got out he was diagnosed with some progressive disease (MS or like MS?). He died at around 30-35 years old, 2 lives that never really got started. My son was at a bar (kind of an upscale billiard room) last year. There was a girl working there whose job was to go around getting patrons to buy shots (maybe they were promoting a particular brand?). Anyway, according to my son, she is particularly good looking and he was buying his share to make sure he had plenty of opportunities to talk to her. As the night went on she agreed to meet him at another bar when she got off work. They got together but he doesn't remember much because he was so drunk. When he left the 2nd bar he took the wrong way up a short one way street. As it turned out a police captain happened to be stopped a a traffic light within view of the one way street. He pulled over my son and called a patrol car down to take my son through the process. There were 4 samples tested (2 by the police, 2 by an independent lab), with results ranging from .24 to .34. While that disparity in the results may make it difficult to determine his actual BAC. There was no doubt that he was really, really drunk and shouldn't have been on the road. Fines, counseling required to get his license back and lawyer fees were all costly, but the biggest cost was losing his job because the work he was doing involved driving. He should be getting his license back soon. He has learned a powerful lesson. Most importantly, he is grateful that he was stopped when he was. He recognizes that he was way too drunk to drive and was fortunate that he was stopped before something really bad happened. I will worry about him for a while once he gets his license back. Not because I don't trust him, but because I'm realistic. Most of us have driven when we feel fine, but nevertheless would be over the legal limit. Drinking doesn't make anyone I know smarter and it's easy to go from "just one" to 2-3-4 etc. With a DWI on his record, for the next 10 years he is now subject to arrest and imprisonment if his BAC is .03 while driving. Edited March 20, 2011 by ljbrun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 (edited) Too weird, GF and I were just talking about this - saw something in the paper about some kid driving wrong way down an interstate and killed 2 people he rammed into. He walked away w/o a scratch. Knock on wood but I don't know anyone killed by someone else driving drunk, although one friend was seriously injured. Driving when you know you shouldn't due to drinking/etc is about one of the dumbest and most grossly irresponsible things a person can do. Edited March 20, 2011 by BeeR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 doin an out of town golf outing with some professional drinkers, me and this one guy looked alike (both had flat tops) anyway it gets late and all the girlfriends/wives decide ta drive down and find us....we are all smoked to the gills but flat top guy decides him and another guy are gonna drive home so i gave'm 50 tacos for his room and feel asleep. Chicks show up at the crash site and the helicopter is loading up flat top and they think it's me....call my wife and leave a message. i finally drag ass home and the wife walks in from her trip and hits the recorder ...you ok Steve, Ya why other flattop just had broken ribs, driver not a scratch. They called me Waylan after that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Wow, some sad stuff.... You know, i really think that there is too much of a stigma attached to drunk driving, in some cases. Seriously, who hasn't had a few and gotten on the road. Not just that, but it is my belief that the BAC levels are arbitrary and set entirely too low. Further, the punishment for DUI is Draconian for first/second offenders and waaaaayyy too lax for those who sevenpeat... Funny story, though, actually two of them. When I worked in Mid-Town the commute was about 27 miles and took a good hour-and-a-half... So on some afternoons I'd grab a sixer from the gas station across from the office to drink on the way home. We're in traffic, going 15 MPH and the looks people would give me as I'm sipping on a beer were incredible; it was like I was anally violating their 13 YO daughter in front of them. I'm like "Hey, I'm only on beer number 4, we're going 15 mph... The only thing you should be concerned with is when I stop to get out on the side of I-75 to pee..." The other one was when I got my DUI... I was by all accounts sober. I had driven a buddy of mine home from a party, like 32 miles to his house. I had then driven the additional 15 miles from his house to almost my house when i got pinched. Blew a .09, they had recently dropped the legal limit to .08 from .1... I was not happy. They of course took the DUI as an opportunity to root through my auto. They found my concealed weapon, as I was in the car already I heard them calling the serial number in over the radio. As he came walking back to inquire about the weapon I beat him to the punch. Cop - " Mr. SEC..." Me- "Yes, it's mine. My carrying and concealed permit is in my wallet." Cop- "How'd you know what I was going to ask you?" Me- "You have the radio on your car" Cop- "Oh..." (Goes to front turns off radio. Goes into my wallet and pulls out permit.) "Mr. SEC, this permit expired last month..." Me- "Goddammit..." Cop- "Well, you tried to obey the law and you haven't been a pain in the ass... I'm going to unload it and put it in the trunk, ok?" Me- "I'm fine with that." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAYER Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Wow, some sad stuff.... You know, i really think that there is too much of a stigma attached to drunk driving, in some cases. Seriously, who hasn't had a few and gotten on the road. Not just that, but it is my belief that the BAC levels are arbitrary and set entirely too low. Further, the punishment for DUI is Draconian for first/second offenders and waaaaayyy too lax for those who sevenpeat... Funny story, though, actually two of them. When I worked in Mid-Town the commute was about 27 miles and took a good hour-and-a-half... So on some afternoons I'd grab a sixer from the gas station across from the office to drink on the way home. We're in traffic, going 15 MPH and the looks people would give me as I'm sipping on a beer were incredible; it was like I was anally violating their 13 YO daughter in front of them. I'm like "Hey, I'm only on beer number 4, we're going 15 mph... The only thing you should be concerned with is when I stop to get out on the side of I-75 to pee..." The other one was when I got my DUI... I was by all accounts sober. I had driven a buddy of mine home from a party, like 32 miles to his house. I had then driven the additional 15 miles from his house to almost my house when i got pinched. Blew a .09, they had recently dropped the legal limit to .08 from .1... I was not happy. They of course took the DUI as an opportunity to root through my auto. They found my concealed weapon, as I was in the car already I heard them calling the serial number in over the radio. As he came walking back to inquire about the weapon I beat him to the punch. Cop - " Mr. SEC..." Me- "Yes, it's mine. My carrying and concealed permit is in my wallet." Cop- "How'd you know what I was going to ask you?" Me- "You have the radio on your car" Cop- "Oh..." (Goes to front turns off radio. Goes into my wallet and pulls out permit.) "Mr. SEC, this permit expired last month..." Me- "Goddammit..." Cop- "Well, you tried to obey the law and you haven't been a pain in the ass... I'm going to unload it and put it in the trunk, ok?" Me- "I'm fine with that." OMG you had a DUI. I am now putting you on block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Wow, some sad stuff.... You know, i really think that there is too much of a stigma attached to drunk driving, in some cases. Seriously, who hasn't had a few and gotten on the road. Not just that, but it is my belief that the BAC levels are arbitrary and set entirely too low. Further, the punishment for DUI is Draconian for first/second offenders and waaaaayyy too lax for those who sevenpeat... Funny story, though, actually two of them. When I worked in Mid-Town the commute was about 27 miles and took a good hour-and-a-half... So on some afternoons I'd grab a sixer from the gas station across from the office to drink on the way home. We're in traffic, going 15 MPH and the looks people would give me as I'm sipping on a beer were incredible; it was like I was anally violating their 13 YO daughter in front of them. I'm like "Hey, I'm only on beer number 4, we're going 15 mph... The only thing you should be concerned with is when I stop to get out on the side of I-75 to pee..." The other one was when I got my DUI... I was by all accounts sober. I had driven a buddy of mine home from a party, like 32 miles to his house. I had then driven the additional 15 miles from his house to almost my house when i got pinched. Blew a .09, they had recently dropped the legal limit to .08 from .1... I was not happy. They of course took the DUI as an opportunity to root through my auto. They found my concealed weapon, as I was in the car already I heard them calling the serial number in over the radio. As he came walking back to inquire about the weapon I beat him to the punch. Cop - " Mr. SEC..." Me- "Yes, it's mine. My carrying and concealed permit is in my wallet." Cop- "How'd you know what I was going to ask you?" Me- "You have the radio on your car" Cop- "Oh..." (Goes to front turns off radio. Goes into my wallet and pulls out permit.) "Mr. SEC, this permit expired last month..." Me- "Goddammit..." Cop- "Well, you tried to obey the law and you haven't been a pain in the ass... I'm going to unload it and put it in the trunk, ok?" Me- "I'm fine with that." I did that too (everyday) when i was workin 1 1/2 from home for a year. People read books, reach brack to their kids in the car seat, do makeup, look at self in drop down mirror on visor....i didn't feel safe and that was before cellphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 OMG you had a DUI. I am now putting you on block. Does that mean I also don't see what you post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 (edited) A friend of mine in high school was out riding with one of my best friends (cousins) and his GF. He turned back to grab a beer from his GF and went off the road into a drainage ditch. The car jumped across the road and wedged between two trees on the other side. When the car came to the dead stop one of the T-tops came flying up and smashed into the back of his head killing him instantly. My best friend was devastated and still hasn't fully gotten over it. Edited March 21, 2011 by rajncajn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 we've had 2 women killed walkin on rural roads by illegals....don't ask me how but they got out and boogied brack to mexico Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Every four years, thousands of high schools across the US do a two-day program called "Every Fifteen Minutes," with the underlying message being that every fifteen minutes, someone is killed or seriously injured in an alcohol related car accident. It's an incredibly intense program that takes months of coordinating from parents, school administrators, local fire and police authorities, hospitals, etc. Essentially one student is "killed" (removed from class by the Grim Reaper) every fifteen minutes. Then a collision is simulated with full responder services, jaws of life, etc on the blacktop for students to witness as their friends are life flighted. The guilty student is cuffed and taken off, and every student's parent that "dies" throughout the day receives a visit at home or work from an officer reporting their death. The students who died go on an overnight retreat and are not to have contact with anyone, and the event ends in an assembly the next day. The school I'm working at just started it today - and when I was in high school, it had a big impact on me. More info at Every 15 Minutes website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt770 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 A lady in my neighborhood just got her third and her sentencing hearing is next week. She pleaded guilty to DUI, leaving the scene, reckless driving and failure to drive on the right side of the road. I don't know the exact details but she is a complete whackjob and whatever jail time she gets will not be enough. She should have her license permanently revoked. She got 1 year suspended jail sentence, 120 days house arrest, 2 years supervised probation, and alcohol/drug "evaluation". IMO this is BS, zero jail time for a third DUI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 She got 1 year suspended jail sentence, 120 days house arrest, 2 years supervised probation, and alcohol/drug "evaluation". IMO this is BS, zero jail time for a third DUI. That's totally effed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 She got 1 year suspended jail sentence, 120 days house arrest, 2 years supervised probation, and alcohol/drug "evaluation". IMO this is BS, zero jail time for a third DUI. First DUI I got - 80 hours community service, $1,500 fine, 24 hours in jail, licenses suspended for 6 months (except for work hours), 1 year probation, 52 AA meetings, and 36 or 52 (can't remember) meetings with a psychologist to discuss my alcohol "issues". That, and my insurance went from, oh, $98 per month to $420. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westvirginia Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Never had or even been involved with a DUI, but most every lawer I know has said that .08 is way too low and there are tons of perfectly sober people that can get tagged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akfatha Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 My wife has had a very close friend pass due to the driver in his car being too drunk, crashing into a tree, and her friend burnt to death. It was a dumb part on BOTH of them. The driver lived, got a break from the judge. 2 years later he gets pulled over for drunken driving and he does a little time. He got out recently, and is back to his old ways. I hate the scumbag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljbrun Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 First DUI I got - 80 hours community service, $1,500 fine, 24 hours in jail, licenses suspended for 6 months (except for work hours), 1 year probation, 52 AA meetings, and 36 or 52 (can't remember) meetings with a psychologist to discuss my alcohol "issues". That, and my insurance went from, oh, $98 per month to $420. FWIW - It pay to shop around for insurance. My son will be getting his license back next week. He was able to get insurance from Progressive for about half of what his old insurer (All State) had quoted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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