Worst part of the Cowboys DUI Death - Drunks will kill like it never happened - Dallas Cowboys Forum

BringBackThatOleTimeBoys · 12-09-2012

I was away from this forum for a few hours and boom! over 500 posts on the tragic accident that killed Jerry Brown and ruined Josh Brent's life. Again: my prayers for their families and friends - what I say next is not directed at them but everyone else.

At the very least, could some of you that refuse to let someone else drive you home after a party listen? When I read the papers next weekend the answer will be "Hell no!" That's the saddest part.

There are a couple of times in my life I definitely should not have been driving, but at least I made sure I was driving slow under the influence. I was still wrong, but what I will never understand is getting drunk and driving twice as fast at 80 or so driving like a Bat outta Hell, thinking I'm indestructible.

It's not that hard to find DUI fatalities in the D/FW area for non-celebs - seems like it happens at least every other day. Struck on the wrong side of the freeway. Hit a house. Rollover. Passenger ejected. In the instance of the latest Cowboy's tragedy, 900-foot skidmarks. Screams no judgement and way too much speed.

Road deaths are 30,000 annually - half of what they were 40 years ago, but still too many. About 2/3 of them involve alcohol. The next biggest factor is speed, enabled by.... alcohol. I'm happy cars have padded interiors, safety glass, airbags, ABS, crumple zones, etc., etc., but often lulls the driver into a false sense of security. Even pickups are quiet as luxury cars, so you don't realize you are going fast unless you look at the speedometer. Faster 0 to 60 times with rack-and-pinion steering enable reckless driving. Since we have done so much to make cars safer, it's time we demand the driver to be safe.

Around Dallas I wonder if 10% or so of the drivers are drunk, high, got in the truck right after they beat up their girlfriend? I see crazy stuff it seems no sober person would do like pivot from the fast lane, four lanes into a freeway exit 50 yards ahead...suprized I have not seen one of them t-boned. One night on the freeway I screamed: "Oh $#!t" as someone was doing at least 120, then realized I'd been killed instantly if it happened differently.

We have been "educated" enough - next weekend hellions are going to ignore this tragedy and get more people killed DUI. They seem determined to break any law or mock any rehab. Are we just stuck with drivers with a death wish? It seems that way.

danielofthesaints · 12-11-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by BringBackThatOleTimeBoys

I was away from this forum for a few hours and boom! over 500 posts on the tragic accident that killed Jerry Brown and ruined Josh Brent's life. Again: my prayers for their families and friends - what I say next is not directed at them but everyone else.

At the very least, could some of you that refuse to let someone else drive you home after a party listen? When I read the papers next weekend the answer will be "Hell no!" That's the saddest part.

There are a couple of times in my life I definitely should not have been driving, but at least I made sure I was driving slow under the influence. I was still wrong, but what I will never understand is getting drunk and driving twice as fast at 80 or so driving like a Bat outta Hell, thinking I'm indestructible.

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In all honesty, driving slow poses its own problems as does driving fast. Even though you were impaired on the road, driving slow puts more people at risk than you would think. I know you said you were in the wrong and I'm not trying to prove my point towards you, because I would hope you can see that too. It's just a general message for anyone not to even put themselves in that situation.

TheCount · 12-12-2012

The only difference between yourself and Josh Brent is that you drove drunk and got home okay.

Driving drunk and slow is still drunk driving. Hell, people that are stone sober and driving relatively reasonably still die on the road everyday.

I'm not trying to single you out, I'm sure a lot of us have driven when we shouldn't have, but attempting to rationalize yourself as a safe drunk driver vs a reckless drunk driver doesn't really further the discussion.

Cythim · 12-12-2012

I am completely for a zero tolerance policy toward drunk driving. One strike and you lose your license and your car. I don't care about hardship, you should have thought about that before risking the lives of others. Driving is not a right and we should be more strict about who we allow on our roads.

Dallas · 12-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cythim

I am completely for a zero tolerance policy toward drunk driving. One strike and you lose your license and your car. I don't care about hardship, you should have thought about that before risking the lives of others. Driving is not a right and we should be more strict about who we allow on our roads.

No offense, NOT a good idea. You have no idea what you are saying w/ 1 strike and all that loss. People make mistakes, something you cant obviously comprehend. I mean why not do the same thing w/ someone who gets into a fight and almost hurts someone? Why not put him in jail for life? He almost hurt someone. He could have killed the guy. What about a spouse hurting the other? Why not make them divorce immediately and split the kids up? They could have killed each other. I mean where does it stop? You can take this same neolithic approach to soo many misdemeanor crimes as well. So be careful what you wish for. You could easily get far more reaching effects than you could possibly imagine by doing what you suggest.

Now, saying that. I am a fan of more oversight of those who have had DUI's and far more penalties than are in place at this time and they are very solid and hard hitting penalties we have on the books now. MADD has done a fantastic job of strengthening our laws against DUI's. I think things are fine now w/ maybe being a bit more bite. Even w/ all of this, there are still those DUI's happening and situations like Jerry and Josh's.

I just don't think you think it through far enough and speak to much w/ emotion when stating that all DUI's peeps should lose their car forever and the right to drive. A mistake is a mistake and outside yourself, none of us are perfect.

BringBackThatOleTimeBoys · 12-12-2012

Didn't I make it clear that the couple of times in the past of driving under the influence I was NOT justifying it? Please quote where I said I was a safe drunk back 20 or 30 years ago - you won't so stop making this stuff up.

And on driving slower: colliding at 80 has at least 4x the force of colliding at 40, not to mention it takes longer to stop and less time to avoid a collision. In other words, there is doing something bad, and then there is doing it REALLY BAD. Like driving drunk, fast, reckless, and with passengers. I did one thing wrong 20 years ago - Josh Brent did at least four things wrong!

I see thru some of the posts: a number of you are uncomfortable with the Josh Brent crash because you had or currently drink and drive. Many of you are uncomfortable talking about that, in part because you are afraid of getting jumped on by flamers if you mention an isolated incident 20 years then 30 years ago.

So for those of you that drink/drive occasionally OR don't but comfortable with others that currently drink/drive - congratulations on winning the spiting match by finding out I'm not perfect - nobody is. Somehow driving when I shouldn't 20 years makes 10,000 traffic deaths in the US and 1.4 million accidents OK. And Texas is #1 on DUI fatalities.

I've been on other forums, yet they are not so soft on DUI.

Denim Chicken · 12-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dallas

No offense, NOT a good idea. You have no idea what you are saying w/ 1 strike and all that loss. People make mistakes, something you cant obviously comprehend. I mean why not do the same thing w/ someone who gets into a fight and almost hurts someone? Why not put him in jail for life? He almost hurt someone. He could have killed the guy. What about a spouse hurting the other? Why not make them divorce immediately and split the kids up? They could have killed each other. I mean where does it stop? You can take this same neolithic approach to soo many misdemeanor crimes as well. So be careful what you wish for. You could easily get far more reaching effects than you could possibly imagine by doing what you suggest.

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+1.

I’m just not a proponent of over-legislation or asymmetrically harsh sentencing for any crime. They have manslaughter laws for a reason: if you commit this offence, you should be held accountable for you actions. I do not agree with penalizing a DUI so harshly that it akin to manslaughter in sentencing—which is what some groups are pushing for.

Rynie · 12-12-2012

I drive after having a few beers weekly. Not drunk. So, I should go to prison the rest of my life for that? You people just take stances on issues that you can't possibly believe yourself.

Denim Chicken · 12-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rynie

I drive after having a few beers weekly. Not drunk. So, I should go to prison the rest of my life for that? You people just take stances on issues that you can't possibly believe yourself.

Firing squad.

**ABQCOWBOY** · 12-12-2012

Part of the problem here is that cities nations wide have gone from trying to protect drivers to using DWI as a revenue center. I'm not against DWI laws but the rules governing what is a DWI are becoming more and more blurred. People are being forced to pay more and everything is based around revenue gathering as opposed to actually educating or what have you.

That's a big problem IMO.

tomson75 · 12-12-2012

I live in a college town....I can tell you from first hand experience (and now second hand experience), that there is an ALARMING percentage of drunk students inhabiting motor vehicles on our roads on any given night.

If we put them all in the lock up or cut off their heads....we'll be falling behind China by Springtime....the hell with 2016.

I don't like it any more than the next person, but it's a reality.

BringBackThatOleTimeBoys · 12-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by ABQCOWBOY

Part of the problem here is that cities nations wide have gone from trying to protect drivers to using DWI as a revenue center. I'm not against DWI laws but the rules governing what is a DWI are becoming more and more blurred. People are being forced to pay more and everything is based around revenue gathering as opposed to actually educating or what have you.

That's a big problem IMO.

Red light cameras are an excellent example of cities putting revenue over public safety. Specifically Plano has really short yellow lights on their red light cameras.

BringBackThatOleTimeBoys · 12-12-2012

Yes, I know a lot of people drink/drive and admitted to such a couple of times in the past.

The point is change our attitude of this as acceptable behavior...if we lost nearly 10,000 Americans annually for any other reason it absolutely would not be tolerated. (I was wrong on quoting 20,000 earlier)

Quote:

Over 1.41 million drivers were arrested in 2010 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

In 2011, 9,878 people died in drunken-driving crashes — one every 53 minutes.

Adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010 — that is almost 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving each day.

If all 17 million people who admitted to driving drunk in 2010 had their own state, it would be the fifth largest in the U.S.

Every day in America, another 27 people die as a result of drunken-driving crashes.
Almost every 90 seconds, a person is injured in a drunken-driving crash.

Rest of article > http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/ed...able-crime.ece

tomson75 · 12-12-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by BringBackThatOleTimeBoys

Yes, I know a lot of people drink/drive and admitted to such a couple of times in the past.

The point is change our attitude of this as acceptable behavior...if we lost nearly 10,000 Americans annually for any other reason it absolutely would not be tolerated. (I was wrong on quoting 20,000 earlier)

Rest of article > http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/ed...able-crime.ece

I think everyone can agree that we would be better off if our attitude towards drinking under the influence were more strict....but I think your solution is disjointed. Harsher penalties aren't going to solve anything....and will simply add to our taxpayers dollars and further overcrowd our ridiculous penal system. Prevention will save far more lives IMO.

BringBackThatOleTimeBoys · 12-12-2012

^ If you read all my posts, I was asking for a solution and asked: Penalties? Breathalyzer locks? Mandatory rehab?

You are correct I'm pressing for a solution to reduce the bodybags. But I'm not sure what measures are most effective. The hard core problems do it many times before they get arrested, then they become serial offenders.