The intent is implied by the action itself
Maya Culbreath
Kristin Melissa Young
Ester Delgado
Gregorio Mejia-Martinez
Leticia Ibarra
Jessica Jasmine Mejia
Six names. Six lives taken in an instant by a drunk driver. That driver, Olivia Culbreath was in court on Wednesday to learn her sentence after she pleaded no contest to six counts of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to a term of 30 years to life in prison. Yes, that's her sister's name at the top of the list.
Olivia was going the wrong way on the 60 Freeway at a speed estimated to be in excess of 100 mph on an early Sunday morning in 2014. All restrictions on her driver license were lifted only weeks before the fatal crash.
DUI accidents are entirely preventable. DUI deaths are entirely preventable. Yet according to data from the CDC, an average of 29 people die every day in the U.S. in an accident involving an alcohol-impaired driver. One every 50 minutes.
Deaths involving repeat DUI offenders happen because we are a society that is very forgiving toward those who refuse to stop driving while under the influence. I wrote about this subject in February of this year but it bears reinforcement.
Andrew Thomas Gallo got six months in rehab following his first arrest for DUI in 2006. ESPN reports that he returned to rehab in September of 2008 but was expelled from the program after only a few months. In April of 2009 he was behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit when the car he was driving plowed into another vehicle. Three people died. A fourth was critically injured. He is now serving 51 years in prison.
Danny Lee Bettcher is currently serving a sentence of just 54 months in jail, for his 28th DUI. 27 previous offenses and yet he had a valid license when he was busted for a record 28th time in Minnesota. His 54 month sentence was actually six months shorter than the 60 months he got for his 27th DUI.
* * *
Everyone makes mistakes. Who among us hasn't gotten behind the wheel when we were over the legal limit for alcohol, got home safely and reinforced our mindset that it won't happen to us. I know I did, on more than one occasion.
The answer is simple. If you're going to drink, don't drive. I went the other way. I stopped drinking altogether. Not because I had a problem with booze, but simply because I did not want to ever risk the possibility of being behind the wheel when I shouldn't have been. And because of an incident where I had to literally peel a DUI driver off of the wall of a building after he'd been smashed against it after crashing into it and flying through his windshield.
There is nothing wrong with punishments for a DUI offense that are rehabilitative in nature. That being said, there is no reason to not impose restrictions on those offenders. Ignition interlocks are not a punishment, they are a preventative measure. No-alcohol restrictions on driver licenses are also not a punishment.
Repeat offenders need to be held to a different standard like Mr. Gallo was and Mr. Bettcher wasn't. Long jail sentences.
I know alcoholism is a disease, an illness. But the choice to drive after drinking is not an illness. It is a choice. A choice that demonstrates an utter regard for the lives of others. A choice that demonstrates the intent to put the lives of those others at risk.
Kristin Melissa Young
Ester Delgado
Gregorio Mejia-Martinez
Leticia Ibarra
Jessica Jasmine Mejia
Six names. Six lives taken in an instant by a drunk driver. That driver, Olivia Culbreath was in court on Wednesday to learn her sentence after she pleaded no contest to six counts of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to a term of 30 years to life in prison. Yes, that's her sister's name at the top of the list.
Olivia was going the wrong way on the 60 Freeway at a speed estimated to be in excess of 100 mph on an early Sunday morning in 2014. All restrictions on her driver license were lifted only weeks before the fatal crash.
DUI accidents are entirely preventable. DUI deaths are entirely preventable. Yet according to data from the CDC, an average of 29 people die every day in the U.S. in an accident involving an alcohol-impaired driver. One every 50 minutes.
Deaths involving repeat DUI offenders happen because we are a society that is very forgiving toward those who refuse to stop driving while under the influence. I wrote about this subject in February of this year but it bears reinforcement.
Andrew Thomas Gallo got six months in rehab following his first arrest for DUI in 2006. ESPN reports that he returned to rehab in September of 2008 but was expelled from the program after only a few months. In April of 2009 he was behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol level of more than twice the legal limit when the car he was driving plowed into another vehicle. Three people died. A fourth was critically injured. He is now serving 51 years in prison.
Danny Lee Bettcher is currently serving a sentence of just 54 months in jail, for his 28th DUI. 27 previous offenses and yet he had a valid license when he was busted for a record 28th time in Minnesota. His 54 month sentence was actually six months shorter than the 60 months he got for his 27th DUI.
* * *
Everyone makes mistakes. Who among us hasn't gotten behind the wheel when we were over the legal limit for alcohol, got home safely and reinforced our mindset that it won't happen to us. I know I did, on more than one occasion.
The answer is simple. If you're going to drink, don't drive. I went the other way. I stopped drinking altogether. Not because I had a problem with booze, but simply because I did not want to ever risk the possibility of being behind the wheel when I shouldn't have been. And because of an incident where I had to literally peel a DUI driver off of the wall of a building after he'd been smashed against it after crashing into it and flying through his windshield.
There is nothing wrong with punishments for a DUI offense that are rehabilitative in nature. That being said, there is no reason to not impose restrictions on those offenders. Ignition interlocks are not a punishment, they are a preventative measure. No-alcohol restrictions on driver licenses are also not a punishment.
Repeat offenders need to be held to a different standard like Mr. Gallo was and Mr. Bettcher wasn't. Long jail sentences.
I know alcoholism is a disease, an illness. But the choice to drive after drinking is not an illness. It is a choice. A choice that demonstrates an utter regard for the lives of others. A choice that demonstrates the intent to put the lives of those others at risk.
posted by me at 9:00 PM
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