I feel sorry for the drunk who hit my car

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Mr. Daffyd and I were out for dinner with a friend tonight, when he got a phone call from our tenant that the police were banging on her door looking for us because someone had hit our car. Since we live downtown, we don’t use it often, and it stays parked on the street for weeks at a time - and I normally park in front of our house, but when I used the car today, I had to park down the street.

Fearing the worst, we rushed home from the restaurant to see the carnage… I was sure the car was going to be a smouldering mess - tires strewn across the street, glass broken, bumpers destroyed… Instead, there was a dent in the back quarterpanel. I had to walk around the car a couple of times to find out where it had been hit.

It turns out that one of our neighbors had his family over, and they were all pretty drunk… The neighbor’s elderly mother had some kind of medical emergency and an ambulance was called… which seems to summon not only an ambulance, but also the police department.

While the paramedics were taking care of the woman, her 76 year old husband got into his car and either threw it in Neutral or Reverse and backed out of his son’s driveway, straight across our street, and into the side of our car.

Not a smart thing to do when there are several police watching. The police told us that the man’s car door was open and he almost ran over one of them, who jumped out of the way just as the car backed across the street.

At that point, the police put the man under arrest for Drunk Driving, handcuffed him, impounded his car and took him to jail… All this, while the paramedics were taking his wife to the hospital.

It’s really strange - I know that if the police (and our car) hadn’t been there, (and the cop hadn’t been so attentive), this guy might have kept on driving and hit or killed someone…

But I still feel really bad for him… It’s really strange because I know nothing about him - he could have 5 previous DUI’s for all I know… But I just keep thinking of this 76 year old in jail with his wife in the hospital… and hope his whole family is OK.

They’re all going to have a lot to deal with when they sober up…

2

A really old guy went off the road recently, and the ambulence and cops hauled him to the hospital. The son was called. His son was injured and taking to the hospital when being driven by his wife. The car ended up crashed within a foot of the first accident. The son of the first guy had to stay in the hospital for days. The old guy was charged with drunk driving.

3

I do not feel sorry for anyone stupid enough to drink and then drive. I don’t care if you drink yourself into the gutter, but if you’re going to get behind the wheel after doing it you might as well go out with a gun and start shooting.

The guy is lucky he’s not facing charges of vehicular homicide.

4

I guess my life is just uneventful… I thought these kinds of things only happened to families in movies.

I was thinking that I should go down the street this morning, and see how the whole family is doing and bring them a gift of a bottle of whiskey, but decided against it. :smiley:

5

They knew he was drunk, and not just driving old and scared? I don’t have much sympathy if he really was drunk. But if he was just old and paniccing because his wife is being removed to the hospital, then I’d feel very sorry for him.

StG

6

From what I understand, his whole family was drunk. Although, it’s hearsay - I got it all from one of the police officers.

7

if the cop hadn’t been so attentive, he would be dead under that man’s car.

8

I backed into someone’s car the exact same way except I was stone cold sober. I had, however, spent a bad night after having to escape my home to evade the abusive man in it.

Have a little compassion. I’m sure the shock of having a sick wife was much more the cause. The police should have offered to escort him to the hospital. The guy’s 76 for pete’s sake.

Geeze some people are heartless.

9

I’d say there’s the possibility of extenuating circumstances there (i.e. were I a judge I might be willing to go easy). IF all the drunks were actually planning to stay overnight, and this situation came up, THEN I’d be willing to go with a slap-on-the-wrist punishment since the senior citizen wasn’t originally intending to drink and drive.

However, if he originally intended to go home that evening in something resembling that state, then he should get the book thrown at him regardless of his age. There’s a time and place for cutting seniors a little slack. Drunk driving isn’t one of them.

10

Am I the only one concerned about a man 76 still driving around? I survived West Palm Beach (with many friends in Boca Raton) for two years. Nothing I look forward to repeating. Mail-in driving licenses are costing us a pretty penny and lives every day.

11

Yup, the cops are assholes. They tend to get that way when people try to run them over and kill them. :rolleyes:
At least it wasn’t a farmer’s market