Young adults driving drunk

[gingersmom]

What is wrong with my town!!???

 

In the past 18 months there have been two fatal car accidents involving young adults driving drunk.

 

In the first the kid was 17, drinking and on drugs in the middle of the afternoon, collided with another car killing the driver.

 

In the second incident a 18 year old (who had been drinking and was drunk) out on a Saturday night with her boyfriend was speeding through local streets and lost control of the car. The boyfriend (passenger) died instantly.

 

The 18 year old is going to be serving 7 years and must serve 85% of her sentence before being eligible for parole.

 

The (then) 17 year old is facing 5-10 years and it looks like he is going to get 8 years and have to serve 85% of his time also.

 

It makes me want to cry. The parents in my town are more interested in their fancy cars, vacations and leaving their children to their own devices.

[Alyce]

If you are convicted (the rates are very low here) you are fined $100 and $200 the second time. If you kill someone in an accident caused by drinking you might get 2 years in prison but it usually ends up 6 months in jail and 2 years probation with a large fine (like $1000). It's sad that the standards aren't higher and that the conviction rate is so low. I feel the saddest for those families who have lost loved ones because of this. They will never have peace again.

[ChristusG]

This is one subject that irritates me. I cannot stand to hear that someone was drunk and got behind the wheel of a car. And the strange thing is, the drunk driver never seems to be the one to die in an accident....it is always the person that got hit or a passenger in the car. :confused:

[Heatherwith4]

These situations are always so sad, because really, nobody ever wins.

 

I think poor parenting is part of the problem, but people also tend to think they are invincible. Of course, even if they actually were invincible, the people around them are not. :(