How Many More Must Be Killed?
No, not a blog about mass shootings.
Not a blog about the continuing death toll from #Covid-19 either.
This is about deaths that are entirely preventable. About a problem that results in one death on average every 45 minutes in the U.S. A problem that may have resulted in six deaths from one incident on Thursday, August 4, 2022.
We do not know for certain that registered nurse Nicole L. Linton was under the influence of alcohol or some other substance on that date, when she caused a traffic accident where six people were killed. She has been arrested on charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The results of blood alcohol content tests are not back yet. We do know she was driving on a surface street at speeds near 100 mph. If it turns out she was not driving under the influence, I will move her from the group of drunk drivers into the group of simply idiotic drivers.
That does not mean that DUI does not remain a problem. One death from a DUI-related accident every 45 minutes in the U.S. is a big problem. Especially since every single DUI death is completely preventable. Meet Danny Lee Bettcher.
That is a picture of Mr. Bettcher from a news article about his having completed the prison sentence he got for his 27th DUI arrest. Yes friends, 27. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for that crime back in 2010. Seven years later, he was arrested for his 28th DUI. Worse yet, he was in possession of a valid drivers license at the time. In the state of Minnesota, a person'a driving privileges can never be permanently revoked. Only his having passed away in 2020 after leaving prison yet again is keeping the drivers and pedestrians of Minnesota safe at this moment.
Let's look at one more particularly egregious instance of multiple DUI arrests. Meet Derek Haskayne.
In October of 2011, he was arrested for DUI for the first time. By the time July 2012 had arrived, he'd been arrested a total of six times for DUI. The cases were consolidated and in June of 2013 he was sentenced to one year in jail.
In June of 2017 he was convicted of his 9th DUI in less than six years and sentenced to four years in prison with credit for 286 days already spent in jail. He is probably driving once again these days.
***
The return of the drivers license to those convicted of DUI, or keeping their licenses suspended is not going to stop these tragic, preventable deaths. Andrew Thomas Gallo was driving on a suspended license in 2009 when he killed three people, including popular Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart. Gallo's BAC that night was nearly 3 times the legal limit of 0.08. We are thankfully safe from Mr. Gallo at the moment as he is serving a 51 year prison sentence.
Alcohol dulls the senses. Slows reaction times. It does not make anyone a better driver in any way, shape or form.
I used to believe otherwise. During my active duty days, I drank on weekends. More nights than I care to remember or admit to, I was far too inebriated to be driving when I left the final bar of the evening for the drive home. I am incredibly fortunate that I never had a DUI incident or accident. It was someone else's DUI tragedy that got me to stop drinking completely. In 1983 while working a shift as an Air Force Security Police law enforcement specialist, my partner and I were at an off-base housing area. On the way back to the main base we observed a "deuce" (law enforcement lingo for DUI). We were not allowed to stop him because there is a law that prevents military personnel from enforcing the law in a civilian jurisdiction. We did follow him, hoping the local PD would arrive in time. I watched him turn left in front of traffic, hop a curb and drive into the side of a building at between 30 and 40 mph. He was not wearing his seat belt. He went through the windshield, faceplanting into the side of the building. He survived, but I'm sure it was a very lengthy and painful recovery. I never drank to excess again and have not had an alcoholic beverage since March of 1992. I was never an alcoholic.
I know that people enjoy social drinking. No problem. As long as you monitor your condition, have a designated driver or not get behind the wheel when your BAC is over the limit. People convicted of DUI should be mandated to have an blood-alcohol interlock device on their vehicle.
Maybe this nurse did not drive under the influence. Maybe she did. Whether she did or didn't is not going to change the fact that one person dying in a DUI incident ever 45 minutes is not acceptable.
Not a blog about the continuing death toll from #Covid-19 either.
This is about deaths that are entirely preventable. About a problem that results in one death on average every 45 minutes in the U.S. A problem that may have resulted in six deaths from one incident on Thursday, August 4, 2022.
We do not know for certain that registered nurse Nicole L. Linton was under the influence of alcohol or some other substance on that date, when she caused a traffic accident where six people were killed. She has been arrested on charges of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The results of blood alcohol content tests are not back yet. We do know she was driving on a surface street at speeds near 100 mph. If it turns out she was not driving under the influence, I will move her from the group of drunk drivers into the group of simply idiotic drivers.
That does not mean that DUI does not remain a problem. One death from a DUI-related accident every 45 minutes in the U.S. is a big problem. Especially since every single DUI death is completely preventable. Meet Danny Lee Bettcher.
That is a picture of Mr. Bettcher from a news article about his having completed the prison sentence he got for his 27th DUI arrest. Yes friends, 27. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison for that crime back in 2010. Seven years later, he was arrested for his 28th DUI. Worse yet, he was in possession of a valid drivers license at the time. In the state of Minnesota, a person'a driving privileges can never be permanently revoked. Only his having passed away in 2020 after leaving prison yet again is keeping the drivers and pedestrians of Minnesota safe at this moment.
Let's look at one more particularly egregious instance of multiple DUI arrests. Meet Derek Haskayne.
In October of 2011, he was arrested for DUI for the first time. By the time July 2012 had arrived, he'd been arrested a total of six times for DUI. The cases were consolidated and in June of 2013 he was sentenced to one year in jail.
In June of 2017 he was convicted of his 9th DUI in less than six years and sentenced to four years in prison with credit for 286 days already spent in jail. He is probably driving once again these days.
***
The return of the drivers license to those convicted of DUI, or keeping their licenses suspended is not going to stop these tragic, preventable deaths. Andrew Thomas Gallo was driving on a suspended license in 2009 when he killed three people, including popular Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart. Gallo's BAC that night was nearly 3 times the legal limit of 0.08. We are thankfully safe from Mr. Gallo at the moment as he is serving a 51 year prison sentence.
Alcohol dulls the senses. Slows reaction times. It does not make anyone a better driver in any way, shape or form.
I used to believe otherwise. During my active duty days, I drank on weekends. More nights than I care to remember or admit to, I was far too inebriated to be driving when I left the final bar of the evening for the drive home. I am incredibly fortunate that I never had a DUI incident or accident. It was someone else's DUI tragedy that got me to stop drinking completely. In 1983 while working a shift as an Air Force Security Police law enforcement specialist, my partner and I were at an off-base housing area. On the way back to the main base we observed a "deuce" (law enforcement lingo for DUI). We were not allowed to stop him because there is a law that prevents military personnel from enforcing the law in a civilian jurisdiction. We did follow him, hoping the local PD would arrive in time. I watched him turn left in front of traffic, hop a curb and drive into the side of a building at between 30 and 40 mph. He was not wearing his seat belt. He went through the windshield, faceplanting into the side of the building. He survived, but I'm sure it was a very lengthy and painful recovery. I never drank to excess again and have not had an alcoholic beverage since March of 1992. I was never an alcoholic.
I know that people enjoy social drinking. No problem. As long as you monitor your condition, have a designated driver or not get behind the wheel when your BAC is over the limit. People convicted of DUI should be mandated to have an blood-alcohol interlock device on their vehicle.
Maybe this nurse did not drive under the influence. Maybe she did. Whether she did or didn't is not going to change the fact that one person dying in a DUI incident ever 45 minutes is not acceptable.
posted by me at 11:17 AM
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