# I pit a drunk driver. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132 "2010-01-23T16:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/1 "2010-01-23T16:53:33Z")
Fuck you, drunk piece of shit. You were pissed out of your mind on Thursday morning, and were playing chicken with cars on a dark and ice covered highway. You ran at least one car off the road in your stupid little game. If only there was only one car affected by you. The next car that you came upon around the bend was driven by a friend. A good man, who worked hard every day and was so good to the people around him. A man who was going to work on a dark and cold early morning, just minding his own business. And you, you complete waste of oxygen, hit him. Head on. He didn’t stand a chance. I wish that you could feel the pain, fury and sadness that is rippling across the country right now. His girlfriend is heartbroken. His friends are devastated. I can’t even imagine how his parents and brother are doing. What really chaps my ass, though, is that I’ve seen this rant almost verbatim dozens of times. This board alone has so many stories of loss caused by drunk drivers. This isn’t the first, and sadly, I don’t think it’ll be the last. I know that I’m hardly a prolific poster and that most of you don’t know me, but I just had to rant for a bit. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/2 "2010-01-23T18:03:06Z")
Really sorry to hear about your friend. I am particularly hateful of bad drivers who are sober, let alone drunk drivers! I have a problem with alcohol but I would never dream of getting into a car. I take comfort in knowing I’m not enough of an asshole to do that. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/3 "2010-01-23T19:33:40Z")
I have always felt that anyone who kills whilst drunk driving should be up on a murder charge - the drinking was intentional, the driving was intentional - so presumably the consequencies have been put down to the lowest levels of concern - can’t see much differance between picking up a deadly weapon such as a gun and shooting it around in some crowded public place - both the same thing to me. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/4 "2010-01-23T19:38:41Z")
I, too, am so sorry about your friend. Drunk drivers are the scouge of the earth and every one of them ought to suffer a fate worse than death. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/5 "2010-01-23T20:25:48Z")
Car collision statistics: From [this site:](http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html) > [@](#): > > There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States – one death every 13 minutes. For some perspective, about 3000 people were killed in New York in the September 11th terrorist attacks. From [this site:](http://www.car-accidents.com/country-car-accidents/canada-crash-accidents-collisions.html) > [@](#): > > There are about 160,000 road accidents in Canada every year. According to the Transportation Safety Board approximately 2800 to 2900 people are killed on Canadian roads each year. I hope you don’t mind me using your thread as an opportunity to get on my soapbox - driving cars is dangerous business, that should be taken far more seriously than it is, including not getting behind the wheel when you are altered (including drunk, stoned, over-tired, over-medicated {prescription or otherwise}, or focusing on your cellphone conversation). I’m terribly sorry to hear about your friend, **Jimmy**. Losing a friend is bad enough without losing them for such a stupid, preventable reason. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/6 "2010-01-23T20:45:05Z")
Thanks all for the kind words. It’s the utter pointlessness of it that gets me. He did nothing wrong, but paid the ultimate price for someone else’s stupidity. Who even expects a drunk at 7:00 am on the way to work? The other guy, of course, was uninjured. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/7 "2010-01-23T21:53:52Z")
Sometimes it has a happy ending [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472416&highlight=drachillix+drunk](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472416&highlight=drachillix+drunk) ---
**Author:** ![JimmyFlair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce7236/32.png) [@JimmyFlair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyFlair)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/8 "2010-01-24T00:49:38Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Sometimes it has a happy ending > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472416&highlight=drachillix+drunk](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=472416&highlight=drachillix+drunk) Thank you! and to everyone else who calls in suspected drunks! (OK, I have to include myself in that category. I called the cops twice in December alone!) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Krebbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/9 "2010-01-25T16:09:24Z")
My deepest condolences to you and the rest of your friend’s loved ones for his loss. ☹ > [@JimmyFlair](#): > > Who even expects a drunk at 7:00 am on the way to work? I certainly don’t personally but I do remember my shrink telling me that 1 in 10 drivers at any given time are drunk or otherwise intoxicated. That sounds a little high to me, but I can try to find a cite by request. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/10 "2010-01-25T16:41:06Z")
It sounds accurate to me, **Mr. Krebbs**. I’d say it is reflected in the collision statistics. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/11 "2010-01-25T22:55:52Z")
Moved from The BBQ Pit to Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share with neither offense intended to the OP nor judgment implied upon the subject matter. **Gfactor** Pit Moderator ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/12 "2010-01-26T00:03:01Z")
I’m sorry for your loss, **JimmyFlair**. > [@casdave](#): > > I have always felt that anyone who kills whilst drunk driving should be up on a murder charge - the drinking was intentional, the driving was intentional - so presumably the consequencies have been put down to the lowest levels of concern - can’t see much differance between picking up a deadly weapon such as a gun and shooting it around in some crowded public place - both the same thing to me. I agree. For whatever reasons, we here in northern New Mexico have a merry little tradition of getting behind the wheel while sloshed. They keep trying stupid, ineffectual, poorly-enforced nonsense (ie, requiring those convicted of DWI to install an ignition interlock device in their car - basically a breathalyzer that you need to pass to start the engine. Which has been on the books since 2005 but pretty much has never been enforced). I would also support a “one strike and you’re out” type policy: you drive drunk and get caught, you lose your license. I don’t give a damn if it’s the first time you’ve ever had alcohol because you used to be a cloistered nun; you made the conscious decision to drink, and then the conscious decision to get behind the wheel of a car? You’ve lost the privilege, because you’re at best a complete idiot. In October we finally got the verdict on a fairly well-known local attorney, who hit and killed a pedestrian while driving drunk (oh, and his passenger? A former state trooper). Sentenced to seven years, but will probably get out (and be driving) long before then. Now we’re waiting on the trial for the drunk scumbag who was driving drunk this summer, crossed onto the wrong side of the road, and killed four teenagers when he hit their car head-on. It was not his first DWI. Oh, and he tried to take off on foot before the cops get there. Yeah, fuck drunk drivers - and the idiotic laws that let them get caught and head right back out, license and keys in hand. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/13 "2010-01-26T00:56:31Z")
I have a nephew-by-marriage who is a problem drinker. The last time he had to go to court for DUI (his _third_ arrest for that. . .how many times did he break the law and _not_ get caught???), my MIL opined “I hope Edwin doesn’t go to jail over this. He’s got a family that depends on him!” :eek::eek: Ummmmm, hello??? The people he will potentially fuckin’ _ **kill** _ have a family, too! And _they_ are innocent! This man _does_ have a family depending on him. But fuck! The man _knows_ he has a drinking problem. Maybe he’s not ready to stop drinking. But couldn’t he have a little compassion for the other drivers and do his drinking _at home_?? I have some chronic health issues that sometimes require prescription/narcotic pain medication. I have some chronic _tenant_ issues that (imho) require some Jim Beam. But I _do not_ get behind the wheel of my car when I’m impaired. I have refused my own daughter a ride to the hospital when I’d taken narcotics. I offered to pay for the cab if she couldn’t find a ride. **Jimmy** , I am sorry for your loss. There is _no_ excuse for drunk/impaired driving. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/14 "2010-01-28T15:50:23Z")
I got a call at 4 am one night. My mom was on the other end and asked me if I could go down and put up bail for my sister. I lived downtown, no more than 3 minutes away, and my mom lived 30 minutes away in a suburb. I asked why she was arrested and was told DUI. I spent the next ten minutes explaining that I would not help her out and that she will have to sit there and think what she’s done and then convinced my mom to let her sit there too. I explained that I’m the one they can call at 4 am for a ride home if they’re too drunk to drive. I would be the last one they wanted to call if they got arrested for a DUI. My sister was pissed at me for several years later, especially since I made it clear over and over that I would do the same thing again in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/15 "2010-01-28T16:56:50Z")
Good job, **stpauler**. I guess it was easier to be mad at you than at herself, thinking about how badly it could have gone if she’d killed someone while drunk driving. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-a-drunk-driver/526132/16 "2010-01-28T17:25:52Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > In October we finally got the verdict on a fairly well-known local attorney, who hit and killed a pedestrian while driving drunk (oh, and his passenger? A former state trooper). Sentenced to seven years, but will probably get out (and be driving) long before then. Now we’re waiting on the trial for the drunk scumbag who was driving drunk this summer, crossed onto the wrong side of the road, and killed four teenagers when he hit their car head-on. It was not his first DWI. Oh, and he tried to take off on foot before the cops get there. We had that happen in the Chicago area a couple years ago, a suburban county district attorney [drank with coworkers, drove drunk, and died.](http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=5339691) She had several drinks at lunch, BAC was three times the limit (.08 in IL), wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was on her cell phone at least shortly before the crash, and was doing 85 at the time of the crash. Unfortunately she injured another driver in the process. Turns out this was the attorney who prosecuted a sister-in-law who got busted for a barely-over-the-limit BAC, and was merely pulled over, but insisted on going for the highest possible penalties because of a late-teens alcohol infraction not involving driving, claiming it was a “pattern of trouble with alcohol” these 3 decades later. **I am not saying my SIL didn’t do anything that bad.** I just find it frustrating that someone in that job, who had spoken to the Mothers Against Drunk Driving group, could have such a blind spot regarding her own behavior.