- 900 -- Number of people killed in in a drunk driving accident during the 2009 holidays.
- 10,839 -- Number of people killed in a drunk driving accident for the entire year of 2009.
- 10 -- Average number of minutes between drunk driving accidents in America.
- 33 -- Percentage of Americans who will be involved in a drunk driving accident in their lifetimes.
Those statistics and many others are available from MADD, the nationwide non-profit that is leading the effort to reduce incidents of impaired driving. I could continue to quote DUI statistics, but they would lack the impact of the stories behind the numbers. Sadly, one of those stories happened recently in Hampton Roads.
On December 4th, Sierra Smith and Kimberly Brin were passengers in a car that was hit head-on by an SUV that was going the wrong way on Interstate 64 in Hampton. The two teenagers, both students at Christopher Newport University, were killed. The Virginia State Police say Jessie Evans, a 33 year old Army staff sergeant from Newport News, was driving drunk. And, according to court records, Evans may have been a repeat offender. He has a court hearing later this month on a suspected DUI from September.
Mike Goodove, the President of the Hampton Roads chapter of MADD, says people who drive after drinking demonstrate a lack of personal responsibility and a lack of understanding of the impact of getting caught. In Virginia, a drunk driving first offense a class-one misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine. It becomes a felony following a third DUI offense.
Hear my interview with Mike Goodove
MADD recently gave Virginia's DUI laws 4 out 5 stars. Virginia missed a perfect score because the law does not require an ignition interlock for cars owned by first time offenders. The interlock would lock the controls of the car if it detects alcohol on the driver's breath. MADD and the State Police will push for such a law at the next General Assembly.
Because so many people will attend parties to celebrate Christmas, New Year's Eve, or football games, MADD considers the holiday season the worst time of the year for drunk drivers. A state trooper once told me that during the holidays, for every 10 drivers he sees on the road after dark, he assumes one of them is drunk.
MADD recommends that party goers plan ahead on how they will get home. Goodove recommends a designated driver for groups of people. Or have the phone number of a local taxi company handy. Goodove says the cost of a taxi ride is nothing compared to the risk of driving a car after drinking.
To contact the Hampton Roads chapter of MADD, call 757-412-1004. Or visit the website of the national organization at www.MADD.org.
I can't understand that why people are doing this such type of crimes. They are making big problems in there lives and also making problems in innocent people lives. I think government should have to take more action and stop this type of crime.
ReplyDeleteAs noted above, MADD does plan to push the General Assembly again this year for a law that would require ignition locks on the vehicles of repeat DUI offenders. But as Goodove points out in the interview (at about the 15-minute mark), law enforcement can only do so much to keep drunken drivers off the road. He believes the drivers themselves and the people around them, family and friends, are the ones responsible for keeping people who've been drinking from getting behind the wheel. -- Jim
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