Drunk driving penalties (Venting!!!)

K

KatieDid

Cathlete
Thank you to all of you who had such kind words to say regarding my mother, who was hit by a drunk driver. I am so grateful that my mother is alive and will have the opportunity to heal and rebuild as much as possible. I am trying to follow my mother's example and pray that the other driver will find healing and growth through this experience.

I am a little bitter, however, about the penalty this driver recieved. She blew a 1.1 bac, well over the legal limit in Oregon. The drunk driver (I don't know her name and wouldn't post it if I did)received a suspended driver's license for one year, $7500 restitution to be paid to my mother over the next 10 years, and 20 days in jail (served on weekends so it won't interfere with her job as a bartender.) This is actually a strict sentence for a first-time offender.

It just doesn't come close to what my mother lost - she may not walk again, it will be at least one year before she'll be able to stay on her own, she lost her job, she's had seven surgeries and faces more but doesn't know if she'll be able to have them since the other driver was not fully insured and mom's own insurances reached maximums or may be discontinued since she is no longer working. Of course there's no money to get even if mom won a civil suit against the woman who did this.

Thanks for listening, and again , thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. I do feel better now.

Katie
 
Oh, Katie, I so agree with you! Stricter penalties have made a difference, but they're still not nearly strict enough! It's a shame these drivers can't somehow see the real effects of their actions. To them, it's like a television show that they she can turn off after half an hour. She doesn't see your mama recovering from surgery. She doesn't see her struggling as she tries to learn to walk again. She doesn't have to care for her during the year when she can't live on her own. It's so sad. Also, tell your mother to get information about the COBRA act. This will allow her to extend her insurance coverage, for up to a year and a half, I believe, even if she isn't working.
 
Vent away, Katie.

I missed your post about your mother; please accept my sympathies about her situation.

Even the harshest penalties for drunk driving are woefully inadequate, given how uniquely avoidable this behavior is. My cousin was killed by a drunk driver in May 2001, and although the driver blew significantly over the legal BAC and was charged with four felony counts, he pled guilty to only one (the other three counts were dismissed) and was sentenced by a sympathetic judge to 44 months in prison (4 months under the sentencing guidelines, but just closely enough within these guidelines where the judge did not have to formally justify a downward departure). In my state, you automatically lop off a third of the sentence for presumed good behavior, so this punk sill spend less that two and a half years in prison for taking a human life.

Thank YOU for keeping this subject alive a bit. Please accept my best wishes for a full recovery for your mother.

Annette
 
(((((((HUGS))))))) to you Katie, you have every right to vent. I am thinking of you and your Mom.

Take Care

Anna :)
 
Often the penalties for certain crimes (drunk driving, rape) don't seem to come close to making up for the harm that was done to others.

Even though criminal court didn't impose much of a penalty (jail time served on the weekends to not interfere with her job!?), there is always civil court, where she could be found to owe your mother much more than what amounts to $750 a year. The drunk driver should pay for what she did, IMO, and that can only be done if she pays for all your mother's accident-related medical bills. Her wages could be garnished so that whatever she does earn as a bartender, your mom would at least get some of it.
 
Katie, if I didn't say this in the original post, I'm sorry about your mother's injuries, but I'm glad she survived. Drunk driving is one of my hot button issues. I don't understand why the punishments aren't harsher. I don't understand why people still think it's okay to drink and drive. It just has me baffled. Perhaps the light penalties have something to do with it. (This woman is a bartender!!! Grr.)

I hope your mother has the best possible recovery. Have you been able to visit her?
 
I totally agree with you Katie. My aunt was killed by a drunken, elderly driver from across the street on her own block. He ran over her as she was walking down her own driveway to take some roses to her friend across the street. She was too badly hurt and didn't make it.

For him, the penalties were nothing, because he was elderly, and they just keep delaying and delaying the court date to avoid having to send him to jail.

Best wishes and lots of strength to you and your mom!

Hang in there ok?

Jodi
 
I'm a lurker on this board but wanted to post. I'm so sorry about your mother. I hope she will recover. My cousin was killed by a drunk driver. She was a young newly wed. Her DH was driving and she was in the passenger seat. Her DH ended up in a coma but luckily he survived and is recovering.

People need to get angrier about this.
 
This is a real hot button issue for me because I was married to 2 alcoholics, both of whom thought nothing of driving while under the influence. To me, there is ZERO excuse for this behavior, and people who cause accidents while drunk should be served with very tough punishments.

To me, it's murder just like the person had used a gun. A car in the hands of a drunk is a murder weapon. Why can't our law makers see that?
 
Hi Katie,

I'm so sorry for what your family is going through and your mom's obvious pain and suffering during all this.
I can't agree strongly enough with the lack of "accountability" for crimes such as this. It seems to me a way to really make people think about what they're doing when they get behind the wheel of a car drunk is to have a penalty that is so extreme, the average person just won't do it!

But all that doesn't help your mom now, or the hundreds of other innocent victims of drunk drivers. I pray your mom's recovery goes well. Take care Katie, we'll be thinking about you! :)

Donna

Fitness~ It's a journey, not a race!
 
Thank you all so much for your listening and kind words. Just posting it made me feel better, and of course each of your posts helped a lot too!

I have to tell you that I am so in awe of my mother. She is greiving and a little scared, but she has already testified once for the Crime Vicitim's Assistance program for the state of Oregon and she is preparing to testify again before the State Legislature on related issues of what happens to the vicitm's in these types of cases (both drunk driving cases and where the responsible party is under insured!)

It just proves that fit women can be strong and active - no matter what. As my mom said, "They can break my body but I won't let them break my spirit!"

Blessings to all of you and thanks!

Katie
 
I was just reading in the Sunday paper today that here in California, there is a loophole where if your Blood Acohol level was taken by a person who is not a Dr.or nurse or is not under the supervision of one, your DUI can be thrown out and you can get that off your record. I think this is terrible and the legislature is trying to pass another law to stop DUI felons from walking. Leave it to a lawyer to find this loophole and get drunks back on the road!

Beth
 
If you're really upset, do something. Join MADD. They have people who are up at the state legistlatures constantly trying to toughen the penalties on these creeps. I see write-ups in the paper here on it a lot. Unfortunately, they don't always succeed because the liquor lobby has a lot of money to spend.
Meredith
 
Meredith hit the nail on the head by pointing out the vast deep pockets of the liquor lobby when the subject turns to expanding drunk driving laws or enforcing existing ones.

Another sad point: here in Minnesota, only within the past year was legislation passed so that, if you accumulated enough drunk driving convictions, a subsequent charge/conviction could be enhanced up to a felony. Before this legislation passed, the most a person could be charged / convicted of was a gross misdemeanor, regardless of whether this was her third offense or her 30th. The not-so-subtle point was made, in OBJECTING to the passage of this legislation, that if drunk driving laws were strictly enforced AND all offenders charged, convicted and sentenced as felons, we'd have to build about 5 new prisons to hold 'em all.

One more bitter irony: also here in Minnesota, legislation was just recently passed to allow bars to remain open until 2:00 a.m. (formerly 1:00 a.m.). Those bars that want to remain open to 2:00 a.m. will apparently have to pay a fee to pay for all the extra state troopers who will have to patrol for later hours.

The world's a strange and sad place sometimes. But I do agree that getting MADD is a good way to put one's rhetoric to good use. Maybe I should check that out myself.

a-jock
 
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