I am having a hard time keeping my composure and anger intact in respect to the recent accident by an alleged drunk driver who killed four children in Santa Fe.
It didn't matter that they were young and inexperienced drivers. They didn't stand a chance.
If the suspect was indeed drunk, consider it another in a long line of senseless crimes caused by selfish people who have no care or concern for anyone else in this world but themselves.
When I was 17, my girlfriend and I were hit head-on by a man driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The driver was leaving a bar in his late model Cadillac around 9:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and we had just left the ice cream shop in our sub-compact Dodge Colt. Upon breaking the windshield with my head, I suffered a concussion and broken jaw.
We were both banged up pretty badly, but lived. We were lucky.
Unfortunately, many of us know someone who has lost a loved one.
I have some friends who lost their daughter four years ago in another senseless accident. She was 18 years old, and the accident happened the night before she was to go away to college.
Their sadness, confusion and torture is easily seen on the pages of a Web site where her parents, friends and strangers leave little heartfelt messages to their deceased daughter, telling her how much they miss her, how she would have liked the recent trip to the beach, and how they are still trying to come to terms with losing their only daughter who meant the world to them, just like all of our children do.
The notes left by the girl's mother are the hardest to read as she tries to "move on," like she is advised. But as you read her messages, you can see that after four years it still feels like she lost her daughter last night. She sees the notes from her daughter's friends who have gone through college and are now graduating. Friends tell the girl about their marriages, their babies, their new careers in exciting fields — all things the girl's mom and dad had hoped for their daughter.
Too much heartache that in most cases is preventable.
What can we do? In recent years, several U.S. states (including Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Virginia and Washington) have introduced legislation to combat drunken driving, including issuing unique colored license plates to designate drivers with criminal records for driving while intoxicated. Ohio issues bright yellow tags that contrast nicely on the road with their normally white tags.
Opponents of specialized drunk driver license plates bemoan the apparent stigma associated with having to wear the "scarlet letter." But isn't that the point? Since a fine and some jail time doesn't seem to discourage drunk drivers, it's time we upped the ante. It's time for a change.
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's report on motor vehicle deaths, the Fourth of July is the second-deadliest holiday to be on the road. An estimated 53 percent of fatal Fourth of July crashes involve at least one drunk driver.
The top five most dangerous holidays to be on the road are:
1. Thanksgiving
2. 4th of July
3. Memorial Day
4. Labor Day
5. New Year's Eve
Please be careful out there today and get home early tonight. Be responsible. Be a defensive driver. And let there be no drunk driving deaths to report tomorrow.
Quote of the Week: "Road sense is the offspring of courtesy and the parent of safety." — Australian Traffic Rule.
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