Damn Drunk Drivers!

[Lady Cop]

i don't know the stats, i just know it's huge...the number of those killed on the roads by drunks every year. there simply is no stopping it nomatter what actions are taken. is alcoholism to blame? or stupidity and selfishness? it cuts across all demographics, there is no profile.
how the hell do we as citizens stop this bloody vehicular carnage?

here is one from this weekend. bike week in Daytona florida. there are always several deaths. this old bat is from up here on the Cape, but i doubt she'll be coming home.





VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -
Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested a 77-year-old woman after she drove the wrong way in Ormond Beach, hitting a group of bikers.

Troopers said Barbara Dunn, of Chatham, Mass., was headed north on Oceanshore Blvd., in Ormond Beach when, for unknown reasons, she went into the southbound lanes, hitting a group of oncoming bikers.

Troopers said 64-year-old Charles Bexford, of Concord, North Carolina, was struck and killed.

Two others were thrown when their bikes overturned, but suffered minor injuries, troopers said.

Dunn was arrested for driving under the influence and booked into the Volusia County Jail.

[ramseycat]

This is one topic that LC and I think alike. I wish there was something more society or LE could do to stop drunk drivers. I have a client that was hit by a drunk driver last year. She is 42 and her husband was killed in the mva. My heart breaks for her because even though she has recovered from her physical injuries, emotionally she will never recover. The dude that hit her had SEVEN previous DWI's in three states. The vehicle he was driving was borrowed and had no insurance. He had no license. He is in jail now at least but that won't bring back the husband and father he killed.

[Lady Cop]

i'll bet everyone here knows someone whose life was affected by a drunk driver.

[IMaDick]

There is a positive way to stop DUI, but no one wants to have public punishment anymore.

stocks in the middle of town would more than likely slow it down, but public hangings if you hurt or injure another would work wonders.

[Kip]

i'll bet everyone here knows someone whose life was affected by a drunk driver.

Yep.

Just reading the title of this thread brought back a memory from when I was 10. A family visiting the grandparents - a mother, father, and their three little girls in their cute little dresses - attended our church. That night, as they drove home, a drunk driver hit them and the mother and three girls were killed.

In my local area, a drunk driver killed two 16 year olds and a 14 year old. Two of the kids were brother and sister - the only children in the family. The other girl was an only child. Her mother had died a year earlier from cancer. Her father died about a year later - from no apparent cause but a broken heart. Of course, the guy who hit him had a string of DUIs.

Sweden is a nation of heavy drinkers. But they have tough drunk driving laws. They don't have much of a problem, because the consequences are severe - it's very easy to lose your license there.

IMO, if a drunk driver kills someone, the charge should be the same as if that person had been walking around with a bomb that could go off at the slightest jostle.

[heartbreaker6713]

i'll bet everyone here knows someone whose life was affected by a drunk driver.

I currently am still dealing with my injuries from when i was hit from a drunk driver over 3 years ago. And the only thing she said when she got out of the car was "i suck for hitting someone with a kid" the driver of my car had a kid in the back seat. She also kept saying i need to call my daughter to tell her i'm gonna be late i was like you're lucky you get to call her at all. Watching her do the sobriety tests were a joke, she complained constantly of having to go pee and wanting to take her boots off after being given that option and not listening i wish i would have recorded it.

She also had a previous DUI and was i believe 58 years old.
I am still dealing with the litigation part of it so i can have surgery because my back is all messed up and it sucks because i was a VERY active person and now i can't walk more than 30 minutes with out being in bed for hours, can't do housework for being in bed for days. it really boils my blood that i was a passenger and my life has been changed forever and i have to fight her tooth and nail to get anything from her and yet she probably doesn't even care and so far spent a night in jail(the rest of her sentence was suspended) and she got fines but it's really bullshit! I too wish there was something more that could be done to stop drunk driving before it happens as well as more severe to punish them afterwards because obviously it isn't working.

I had a friend in az who on FIRST offense for anything on a drunk driving charge was thrown in jail for 10 days and had a breathing system (sorry don't know what they are called) that you have to breathe into before starting the car. Of course she flipped her car in a one car accident and thankfully didn't hurt anyone else but herself but she has definitely learned her lesson and scared all of her friends and family and herself since she has a little one at home, it'll teach ya real quick not to drink and drive on emotions or any reason! And yes it was that one sheriff that does the PINK underwear and outdoors tents, she was NOT happy about it and refused to shave, i can't remember why but she said there was some reason why lol and said she'd rather wait the 10 days lol. i told her to add it to the lesson learned. now that i am thinking about it i am thinking it was more than 10 days... this was about 5 years ago... either way it wasn't fun for her as it shouldn't be!

[Kip]

heartbreaker, I'm so sorry to hear about your medical issues. IMO, that woman should have been charged with assault. If she had gotten drunk and been swinging a baseball bat around and battered someone, she would have. But "swing" a vehicle around, and you're off the hook.you

I hope you get the money to pay for the treatment you need.

Here's some info on Sweden's drunk driving laws:
Sweden's tough laws

WFTV sent reporter Eric Rasmussen to Sweden, which has some of the toughest DUI laws in the world. The tough laws against drinking and driving seem to be a matter of national pride. Sweden lowered its legal limit from .05 to .02 twenty years ago and they're seeing results.

...The fines for drunk driving in Sweden can depend on how much money you have in the bank. One Swedish official told Rasmussen about a woman who had to pay more than $21,000.

The legal driving limit in Sweden is .02. If you break the law more than once, your name, your face and your car goes into a database so police can stop you at anytime. If you're on Swedish police officer Ursula Eriksson's list, you're already in serious trouble.

Eriksson is part of a special team that goes after habitual offenders, working tips from other cops, even citizens who call to report drunk drivers.

"And I will take my police car and I will go pull up outside your house and when you are taking your car keys to go out driving, and when you look out your window and you see a police car, would you drive then?" Officer Eriksson questioned...

[heartbreaker6713]

heartbreaker, I'm so sorry to hear about your medical issues. IMO, that woman should have been charged with assault. If she had gotten drunk and been swinging a baseball bat around and battered someone, she would have. But "swing" a vehicle around, and you're off the hook.you

I hope you get the money to pay for the treatment you need.

Here's some info on Sweden's drunk driving laws:
Sweden's tough laws

WFTV sent reporter Eric Rasmussen to Sweden, which has some of the toughest DUI laws in the world. The tough laws against drinking and driving seem to be a matter of national pride. Sweden lowered its legal limit from .05 to .02 twenty years ago and they're seeing results.

...The fines for drunk driving in Sweden can depend on how much money you have in the bank. One Swedish official told Rasmussen about a woman who had to pay more than $21,000.

The legal driving limit in Sweden is .02. If you break the law more than once, your name, your face and your car goes into a database so police can stop you at anytime. If you're on Swedish police officer Ursula Eriksson's list, you're already in serious trouble.

Eriksson is part of a special team that goes after habitual offenders, working tips from other cops, even citizens who call to report drunk drivers.

"And I will take my police car and I will go pull up outside your house and when you are taking your car keys to go out driving, and when you look out your window and you see a police car, would you drive then?" Officer Eriksson questioned...

I wish those would apply to my drunk driver and then some cause she blew a twice the legal limit in our state and that was 2 and half hours after she had gotten on the road and at the time they administer the Breathalyzer. and after waiting nearly 45 minutes for the police to get there it was almost 2.5 hours i am sure that her BAC was much higher at some point and probably higher when she hit us but seeing as we had to wait. i actually called 911 three times and on the third time i said she's drunk and wants to leave please hurry and they showed up in about 2 minutes that time! Thank you for your kind words, i appreciate them.

[Lady Cop]

YES!! i've been waiting for this verdict, just came in. fucker thought he would skate because he's filthy rich.


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – John Goodman, the Florida tycoon who infamously adopted his 42-year-old girlfriend, was found guilty Friday of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a 2010 traffic accident in which a 23-year-old was killed.

Goodman, 48, faces up to 30 years in prison.

Prosecutors claimed Goodman had over a dozen drinks before his Bentley crashed into 23-year-old Scott Wilson's Hyundai, sending the car into a canal where Wilson drowned in February 2010.

[Lady Cop]

that kid's life could have been saved if this coward had not worried about saving his own ass.



ABC
Polo tycoon John Goodman was found guilty today of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide by a Florida jury.

The six-person jury, comprised of five men and one woman, signalled that they had reached a verdict today after 5.5 hours of deliberation.

He could be given 30 years in prison when sentenced on April 30.

The judge denied defense attorney Roy Black's request for Goodman to be released on bail and Goodman was taken into custody.

Goodman's Bentley slammed into Scott Wilson's Hyundai and sent it into a nearby canal in Wellington, Fla., in February 2010. Wilson, a 23-year-old engineering graduate, was still strapped into the driver's seat and drowned.

The multi-millionaire founder of the International Polo Club Palm Beach claims his $200,000 car malfunctioned and lurched forward. He has also denied being drunk at the time of the crash that killed Wilson, although other testimony has contradicted him and his blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit three hours after the crash.
Polo Tycoon John Goodman Trial: Jurors See Wreckage Watch Video
"The defendant was impaired, the defendant was speeding, the defendant ran a stop sign, the defendant probably unintentionally had too much to drink that night," prosecutor Sherri Collins said in her closing arguments. "And when the crash happened, did he go around and look at the front of the car to see what he hit or to the canal that was three feet away? No, he headed south."

"He didn't do any of the things that are required by law and, ladies and gentlemen, there is no excuse for that," she said.

When Goodman, 48, took the stand, he denied drinking powerful cocktails known as Irish car bombs and mind erasers, which defense attorney Roy Black reiterated in his closing arguments.

"At the White Horse Tavern, there are five eyewitnesses. The eyewitnesses unanimously say John Goodman had one drink. Unanimously," Black said.

The defense argued that Goodman's blood alcohol level was high because after the accident, he stumbled to a nearby barn where he tried to call for help and drank from a bottle of liquor he found there to ease the pain from a broken wrist, fractured chest and back injuries.

"There's no doubt this case is a tragedy, that a young man lost his life," Black said. "This is a sad thing. We all recognize that, but we're not here to compound that tragedy with another one. This is a horrible accident, but this is not a crime."

Goodman has already settled a civil suit over the crash after adopting his 42-year-old girlfriend to help protect his estate.

[Lady Cop]

re: posts 9 & 10 ^




Goodman's $200,000 Bentley was totaled in the crash.




This is what Wilson's car looked like after it was pulled from the canal.



Twenty-three-year-old Scott Wilson was killed

The incident occurred early the morning of February 12, 2010, when Goodman was driving his black Bentley convertible in Wellington, Florida, "at a high rate of speed while intoxicated," according to a probable cause affidavit.

Goodman failed to halt at a stop sign, where the other driver -- Scott Wilson -- didn't have a stop sign and had the right of way, the affidavit said. The two men's vehicles collided, causing Wilson's car to go over a bank and roll over into a canal.

"After the collision occurred, Goodman made no attempt to look for Wilson's vehicle and fled the scene of the collision on foot," according to the affidavit from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. "Goodman left the Bentley GTC at the scene ... and left Scott Wilson to drown in the canal, belted in the driver seat of his vehicle."

[Kip]

Good verdict! I hope this guy gets the max sentence.


The defense argued that Goodman's blood alcohol level was high because after the accident, he stumbled to a nearby barn where he tried to call for help and drank from a bottle of liquor he found there to ease the pain from a broken wrist, fractured chest and back injuries.

So this barn just happened to have a phone and a bottle of liquor!

[Lady Cop]

i love it! he was remanded right away! sentencing april 30.

Prosecutor Ellen Roberts asked that Goodman be taken into custody immediately.

Defense attorney Roy Black has asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath to let him stay out of jail until sentencing.

Colbath remanded Goodman into custody immediately.

Black said he didn't necessarily believe investigators and prosecutors set out to frame Goodman.


complete Palm Beach Post article:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/...56085.html

[Lady Cop]

brief video reenactment of crash here. the kid's car went into the canal...and it was surmised he could have been saved.


http://bcove.me/8tnt451w

[Sterling]

I doubt he'll get more than five years. I hope I'm wrong.

[Lady Cop]

re: posts 9 - 15

i will never believe someone didn't tamper with this asshole juror. but the sentence should not be affected. appeals will go on forever because goodman is filthy rich and that entitles him to get away with what he did.

Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH — One juror in the panel that convicted polo mogul John Goodman of DUI manslaughter last month said he was not convinced of Goodman's guilt.

Juror Michael St. John made the revelation this afternoon as Circuit Judge Jeffrey Colbath interviewed the six jurors and two alternates on the case in response to allegations of juror misconduct in the case surrounding the Feb. 2010 drowning death of 23-year-old Scott Wilson. St. John said that he was pressured by other jurors to find Goodman guilty of DUI manslaughter.

"So when I asked you at the end of the case whether the verdict was your verdict, and you looked at me and said yes, why did you say that?" Colbath asked St. John.

"I didn't look at anyone," St. John responded. "I didn't look at him, I didn't look at any of the other jurors. I just looked at the floor when you asked me."

Goodman's defense team, led by Roy Black, had asked Colbath to question jurors on a variety of issues, but Colbath restricted the interview to whether the group discussed Goodman's wealth during the trial. He also asked the six panelists whether they'd felt threatened to come to their verdict. All of them, except St. John, said they'd received no pressure.

St. John said he still had questions about some fact in the case. He asked Colbath if he could ask those questions this afternoon, but Colbath told him he was unable to answer them.

The hearing brought the first public sight of the 48-year-old polo mogul in prison scrubs. Goodman walked in just after the start of his hearing, his hair cut a bit shorter and his frame seemingly a bit lighter.

After the hearing, Black said he felt Colbath ruled unfairly by not allowing further questioning.

He also said that he would continue his pursuit to find out what happened with jurors "until I'm convinced that he got a fair trial."

"I have said from the beginning that this case has not been tried fairly in Palm Beach County," Black told reporters. FUCK YOU ROY

Prosecutor Ellen Roberts said she wasn't convinced that St. John's sentiments would win Goodman a new trial. When asked whether contempt of court charges could be pursued against St. John for not returning a verdict that reflected his true belief, Roberts - who will retire in May - shrugged and described the idea as "interesting."

A sentencing hearing for Goodman has been set for May 11. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

After the sentencing, Goodman's defense will argue that he should be let out on bail while they pursue an appeal. Roberts said fellow prosecutor Sherri Collins will argue that portion of the case, but said Collins will probably argue that the Texas heir is a flight risk. DAMN RIGHT HE IS!

nice to see him shackled up.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

I read this in todays Sun Sentinal, this juror is a douchbag, probably got paid or is an attention whore

[ramseycat]

I just got a new case last week where two women were drinking at home Sunday night. Then early Monday morning they took one of the ladies boyfriend's truck and went to Walmart. On the way back the driver swerved off the road and hit a tree. Her passenger was killed instantly and now she is charged with Vehicular Manslaughter. Her passenger was her sister in law. They were both highly intoxicated. Another unnecessary death and a family ripped apart.

[FAHQTOO]

One of my co workers was hit by a DD on Sunday night. He wasn't hurt but his wife and 4 children were, and worse. kids...age 1, 3, 5, and 7. The 3 yr old died instantly, the 7 yr old has a broken leg, the 5 yr old had 2 broken legs and the baby has a broken arm. All but the wife were airlifted, all have been released from the hospital except for one child.

Work has been horrible so far this week. Yesterday everyone was crying, including myself...today everyone was pissed.

This family had been through enough. The seven year old has been fighting cancer since she was 3 (in remission now) and to have this happen to them is beyond comprehension.

The fucker that hit them is a Burmese refugee and can't even speak english.

As of last night, the prosecutor hadn't even filed anything against him...as of today, he's being charged with 8 felonys.
I say the fucker needs to DIE!!

If you DD and kill someone, especially a child, you need to die. It's black and white to me, no ifs ands or buts.

[Midwest Spy]

One of my co workers was hit by a DD on Sunday night. He wasn't hurt but his wife and 4 children were, and worse. kids...age 1, 3, 5, and 7. The 3 yr old died instantly, the 7 yr old has a broken leg, the 5 yr old had 2 broken legs and the baby has a broken arm. All but the wife were airlifted, all have been released from the hospital except for one child.

Work has been horrible so far this week. Yesterday everyone was crying, including myself...today everyone was pissed.

This family had been through enough. The seven year old has been fighting cancer since she was 3 (in remission now) and to have this happen to them is beyond comprehension.

The fucker that hit them is a Burmese refugee and can't even speak english.

As of last night, the prosecutor hadn't even filed anything against him...as of today, he's being charged with 8 felonys.
I say the fucker needs to DIE!!

If you DD and kill someone, especially a child, you need to die. It's black and white to me, no ifs ands or buts.

I'm in favor of the death penalty for sure. In certain cases I'd be happy to hear an argument for death concerning a DD case. This one sounds like it could fit.

The thing is, if you really are going to drink and drive, you need to EXPECT that there will be severe consequences (more than are on the books now) for your actions if you're caught or you have an accident.

Repeat offenders should automatically have to serve 2-4 years (and that's if they haven't killed anyone). I'm not talking about time off for good behavior either.

I'm sure one of the reasons the penalties aren't stiffer is the alcohol lobby won't let it happen. People would drink far less if they knew real jail time was in their future.