Irritated!

[chri'stina 190]

Sorry, kinda of a long story.

I just talked to my mom who said that at around 3am this morning, they were awakened by their door bell ringing, looked out the peep hole and saw a man and a woman. They also saw 4 or 5 cop cars outside on the side of their house and a few other cars parked there. They live on the corner of a commonly used street.

My sister was the first to wake up and went and woke up my parents, then my dad answered the door. It was their neighbors behind them, who said a drunk driver almost smashed into both of their houses and to come outside. They couldn't believe my parents slept through the noise(but their room is on the opposite side of the house). My family went outside to the side of their house and back yard to see a light pole knocked down, which miraculously didn't hit any of their cars, and a small palm tree in their yard rammed through, and the car flipped upside down and smashed looking. Also there was tree damage to the neighbor's yard too and a tire flew off the truck and hit their house(thank God not a window).

And this idiot driver is able to get up and walk out from the accident. Yet he could have rammed my parent's house or my grandmothers room which is in the back of the house and has windows going around the top 3/4 of the room. Worse, he could have easily crashed through her room and killed her. Also he could have easily crashed through my sister's room and friend's room(who lives with my fam), which are on the side of the house closest to the street.

I am so ticked at drunk drivers. I'm just ticked at ppl getting drunk too. And anyway I do not like alcohol at all, it turns people into huge idiots. And how many times have we heard from ppl that they drove even though they shouldn't have, and still sometimes drive while feeling a buzz from alcohol. I am so mad about it. I could have lost a relative this morning because people don't care if they kill someone by driving drunk. Grrr...

We can only be thankful that no one was hurt and that the houses weren't crashed into.

*vent over*

[CarolineM 0]

I'm just glad your family was safe and that no one was hurt Stina....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Good to hear everyones ok.

[chri'stina 190]

I think I suck too, because my threads seem to bomb lately.

Edited October 20, 2006 by stina&suj

[MHandMB 0]

That's awful! I just read that story about the man getting convicted for ramming into a limo on the way home from a wedding. He killed a little girl who was inside, and her mom was sitting right next to her when it happened. He was more than 3 times over the legal limit, and he got behind the wheel!

It really bothers me, too, because people can control this sort of thing by calling a cab! I've always told my friends that if they've ever had too much to drink and need to get home, to call me and I will come get them.

I'm glad everyone in your family was safe, Stina.

[Jasman0717 9]

I'm just glad your family was safe and that no one was hurt Stina....

Most definitely glad your family is ok.

This is a serious problem nation wide and even with the increasing penalities dimwits continue to climb behind the wheel after drinking. I think the trend is showing signs of improvement but still they say that at least 1 in 10 drivers at night are drunk and over 20% of fatal accidents are caused by drunk drivers. Law makers are trying to do everything they can to severly punish these idiots but the hard-core drunks don't seem to be concerned with loss of license or jail time so what can be done to keep these idiots off the road. Maybe some day we will have cars that can drive themselves or at least a sensor that won't let the driver start the engine if booze is detected!

[chri'stina 190]

That's awful! I just read that story about the man getting convicted for ramming into a limo on the way home from a wedding. He killed a little girl who was inside, and her mom was sitting right next to her when it happened. He was more than 3 times over the legal limit, and he got behind the wheel!

It really bothers me, too, because people can control this sort of thing by calling a cab! I've always told my friends that if they've ever had too much to drink and need to get home, to call me and I will come get them.

I'm glad everyone in your family was safe, Stina.

Wow, that's awful! I hadn't heard that story yet.

I'm just glad your family was safe and that no one was hurt Stina....

Most definitely glad your family is ok.

This is a serious problem nation wide and even with the increasing penalities dimwits continue to climb behind the wheel after drinking. I think the trend is showing signs of improvement but still they say that at least 1 in 10 drivers at night are drunk and over 20% of fatal accidents are caused by drunk drivers. Law makers are trying to do everything they can to severly punish these idiots but the hard-core drunks don't seem to be concerned with loss of license or jail time so what can be done to keep these idiots off the road. Maybe some day we will have cars that can drive themselves or at least a sensor that won't let the driver start the engine if booze is detected!

Yeah..and something else that makes me mad is that my family knows someone who has a drinking problem, and we KNOW he has driven around his neighborhood a couple times after drinking and was too buzzed to be driving. And yet he seems to continue to do this once in awhile, no matter how much ppl tell him not to or offer to drive for him. He's like a little baby, as soon as he is alone he does crazy things. And he is over 50 years old.

When I first heard the story from my mom, she mentioned that it was a pick up truck driver, and the person we know with the problem drives a pick up truck so I almost thought she'd say it was him. It wasn't, but I just thought of him immediately.

[MHandMB 0]

Here's the story. The part about the mom and the head really got to me.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/18/wedding....h.ap/index.html

MINEOLA, New York (AP) -- A jury convicted a man on Tuesday of murder for driving drunk the wrong way on a highway, slamming head-on into a wedding limousine and killing the chauffeur and a 7-year-old flower girl.

Prosecutors said Martin Heidgen, 25, drove his pickup truck more than 2 miles on the Long Island highway before ramming head-on into the limousine in July 2005.

They contended Heidgen never tried to stop and turned slightly toward the limousine in the seconds before the crash.

Heidgen, of Valley Stream, had at least 14 drinks before getting behind the wheel; his blood-alcohol level, 0.28, was more than three times the 0.08 legal limit in New York state, prosecutors said.

Kate Flynn and limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz, 59, were killed. Five other members of the Flynn family were injured.

A scream echoed through the courtroom as the murder conviction was read, with several of the jurors in tears as the slain girl's mother collapsed sobbing into her weeping husband's arms. The verdict followed a gut-wrenching, five-week trial that was filled with gruesome images and testimony.

Jennifer Flynn, who testified about holding her daughter's decapitated head immediately after the wreck, praised the jury for its decision.

"It was the right verdict," she said. "I'm happy for that."

Jurors, who deliberated for five days, saw a horrifying video from the limousine's surveillance camera that showed Heidgen's pickup truck barrelling toward the car moments before the crash. It ended with the metal-on-metal crunch of the two vehicles colliding.

In closing arguments, Heidgen's defense attorney called the murder charge "extreme" and suggested jurors return a guilty verdict on a lesser count of criminally negligent homicide, which carries a four-year prison term.

Defense attorney Stephen LaMagna complained that prosecutors held Heidgen to the "same standard as a cold-blooded murderer" but insisted, "this is a kid who drank too much and got lost on the way home."

Heidgen faces 25 years to life in prison. The jury, which was sequestered on the fourth day of deliberations, had a choice of convicting him on the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, which carries up to 15 years in prison.

"Thank God," said Keith Rabinowitz, son of the dead limo driver. "It's about time. I'm glad that he was prosecuted and the truth came out."

Heidgen also was convicted of assault and driving while intoxicated.

LaMagna said he intended to appeal and was confident the murder conviction would be overturned.

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

Yeah..and something else that makes me mad is that my family knows someone who has a drinking problem, and we KNOW he has driven around his neighborhood a couple times after drinking and was too buzzed to be driving. And yet he seems to continue to do this once in awhile, no matter how much ppl tell him not to or offer to drive for him. He's like a little baby, as soon as he is alone he does crazy things. And he is over 50 years old.

When I first heard the story from my mom, she mentioned that it was a pick up truck driver, and the person we know with the problem drives a pick up truck so I almost thought she'd say it was him. It wasn't, but I just thought of him immediately.

glad to hear all are ok, stina. here's a few laws that insure no repeat offenders

Bulgaria

A second conviction results in execution

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El Salvador

Your first offense is your last---execution by firing squad

link

[chri'stina 190]

Yeah..and something else that makes me mad is that my family knows someone who has a drinking problem, and we KNOW he has driven around his neighborhood a couple times after drinking and was too buzzed to be driving. And yet he seems to continue to do this once in awhile, no matter how much ppl tell him not to or offer to drive for him. He's like a little baby, as soon as he is alone he does crazy things. And he is over 50 years old.

When I first heard the story from my mom, she mentioned that it was a pick up truck driver, and the person we know with the problem drives a pick up truck so I almost thought she'd say it was him. It wasn't, but I just thought of him immediately.

glad to hear all are ok, stina. here's a few laws that insure no repeat offenders

Bulgaria

A second conviction results in execution

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El Salvador

Your first offense is your last---execution by firing squad

link

woah! That's pretty extreme.

It's sad because so many drunk drivers, when in their right state of mind, will be the kind of people you'd never think would do that. Like the guy we know, he thinks it's all a secret to most ppl in his life. Yet we know because it's hard NOT to know, especially when people have seen it happen. Yet he still acts like a completely different person when not in that state of mind. He, when not messed up, is a really nice/funny guy. But he's willing to throw it all away because of his alcohol problem.

[Lou Lou 1]

I always amazed at how much drunk driving goes on in this country. Then again, I find people who use their cell phones while driving just as irritating and dangerous. Just ride behind them and watch them sway.

Gald your family is safe.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Yeah..and something else that makes me mad is that my family knows someone who has a drinking problem, and we KNOW he has driven around his neighborhood a couple times after drinking and was too buzzed to be driving. And yet he seems to continue to do this once in awhile, no matter how much ppl tell him not to or offer to drive for him. He's like a little baby, as soon as he is alone he does crazy things. And he is over 50 years old.

When I first heard the story from my mom, she mentioned that it was a pick up truck driver, and the person we know with the problem drives a pick up truck so I almost thought she'd say it was him. It wasn't, but I just thought of him immediately.

glad to hear all are ok, stina. here's a few laws that insure no repeat offenders

Bulgaria

A second conviction results in execution

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

El Salvador

Your first offense is your last---execution by firing squad

link

woah! That's pretty extreme.

It's sad because so many drunk drivers, when in their right state of mind, will be the kind of people you'd never think would do that. Like the guy we know, he thinks it's all a secret to most ppl in his life. Yet we know because it's hard NOT to know, especially when people have seen it happen. Yet he still acts like a completely different person when not in that state of mind. He, when not messed up, is a really nice/funny guy. But he's willing to throw it all away because of his alcohol problem.

Yep. When someone drinks, it not only impairs them physically, but it also impairs their judgment. I have yet to meet someone who can 'handle' their alcohol once they are drunk. You either drink to a point and stop before becoming drunk, or you get smashed and throw out all reason. Not to excuse drunk driving - it's just by the time they are smashed, they don't think they are that drunk and that's the big problem. If you're planning on drinking, plan on not driving...that's about the only reasonable plan.

[CarolineM 0]

stewart couldn't believe how lax they are on drunk driver's here.

it's VERY strict in Oz.

he was so incredulous, that he decided to test it out...

drove drunk, thinking he could get away with it...and got a DUI. That was a dark page in our relationship...but we got through it.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

stewart couldn't believe how lax they are on drunk driver's here.

it's VERY strict in Oz.

he was so incredulous, that he decided to test it out...

drove drunk, thinking he could get away with it...and got a DUI. That was a dark page in our relationship...but we got through it.

Glad you got through it. I have an older brother who lives in Arizona and a few years ago, after leaving a restaurant with his wife he was immediately pulled over. He panicked because he had a few beers. He refused to do the breathalizer and it was an automatic one year suspension of his license. I think the laws have gotten more severe for drunk driving. It's such a difficult thing to judge - as to how much is too much to be able to drive, but I believe there are general guidelines.

[Ban Hammer 13,644]

It's such a difficult thing to judge - as to how much is too much to be able to drive, but I believe there are general guidelines.

i think the phrase "don't drink and drive" is a great guideline