Another life lost.

[Peter P.]

It's obvious the driver fled the scene to avoid a DUI arrest. That's also why she waited 22 hours before turning herself in. Veteran drinkers know the tricks.

And it's no surprise she borrowed another vehicle to get around the interlock device. She's a pro.

[velotrack]

just one DUI sucks... you got behind the wheel drunk and put lives in danger. call a cab, stay a night, sleep in your car, something. but sure, you made a mistake once...

but five? FIVE? i can't wrap my head around how there was no lesson learned after five, and can't wrap my head around how she has any driving privileges whatsoever. i agree with the above... she fled the scene to avoid yet another DUI, and now there's a death. absolutely mind boggling.

[parris]

This sucks.

I read the linked article but haven't followed it other than that. Are there other stories on it with comments? I'm not trying to be negative with this but if and when this lady is convicted she'll do it again when she gets out. I also don't believe for a second that her uncle didn't know that she took his truck.

Having dealt with people that do life on the installment plan they and often times their families rarely see beyond their own wants, needs, and what's important to them.

Just to repeat. THIS SUCKS.

[Iansir]

This is really upsetting. This is a commonly used bike lane that I ride all the time. I have never loved it given the speed of cars on this road. I am going to reconsider all of my routes that take this one. My thoughts are with the family.

[ducati2]

I use that piece of road a lot too. I hate to sound pessimistic but I wonder how much changing your route will increase your odds....drunk, angry, distracted, etc drivers are passing by us at an alarming rate on almost any ride where we share the road with cars. To some extent we are at the cagers mercy. That’s why drivers try to get away with the things they do...they have the power. I have been riding with lights during the day for quite a awhile and now I laugh when I turn them on because I wonder if they will make any real difference at all. So many close calls lately have definitely left a bad taste in my mouth. Sad for this local family.

[mtechnica]

That's horrible. This person never should have been allowed to drive again after the second let alone third DUI, not to mention the elephant in the room I'm sure they were a **** driver even when sober. My condolences to go the rider's family and friends... it could be you or I one day... America is a great country in many ways but our laws and legal system really could use some work. There are too many people behind the wheel that have no business being there.

[AngryScientist]

Senseless and ridiculous.

5 dui?

That means caught 5 times. Obviously habitually driving drunk countless times not caught. How any judge with any values didn't order revoked license after the first few is beyond me.

When someone dies the family/friends suffer the most; I hope they can find some peace.

So sad.

[BobO]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

Senseless and ridiculous.

5 dui?

That means caught 5 times. Obviously habitually driving drunk countless times not caught. How any judge with any values didn't order revoked license after the first few is beyond me.

When someone dies the family/friends suffer the most; I hope they can find some peace.

So sad.

The judge often has very little to do with deciding these cases. More often than not there is an arrangement between the prosecutor and defense. In exchange for a guilty plea for a lesser charge not involving significant penalty the prosecutor gets a high conviction rate. It's faster, cheaper, leaves more prison space for potheads and a prosecutor with a 99% conviction rate can get political.

[Vamoots58]

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Right? I was a peace officer at one point in my 20s and was all "due process man". In cases like this, max sentence please...…..

+ One!!!!

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by BobO

The judge often has very little to do with deciding these cases. More often than not there is an arrangement between the prosecutor and defense. In exchange for a guilty plea for a lesser charge not involving significant penalty the prosecutor gets a high conviction rate. It's faster, cheaper, leaves more prison space for potheads and a prosecutor with a 99% conviction rate can get political.

I get what you’re saying Bob; and I guess that’s the grim reality; but I’d like to think that if I were a judge and some train wreck showed up in my court room with a 5th DUI; I’d use my power to make sure there was no plea; no lesser charges; no more deals....and no more privilege to drive.

Maybe that’s idealistic, but how can the justice system reasonably think after being caught operating impaired half a dozen times someone will ever change?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I get what you’re saying Bob; and I guess that’s the grim reality; but I’d like to think that if I were a judge and some train wreck showed up in my court room with a 5th DUI; I’d use my power to make sure there was no plea; no lesser charges; no more deals....and no more privilege to drive.

Maybe that’s idealistic, but how can the justice system reasonably think after being caught operating impaired half a dozen times someone will ever change?

That’s the rub...way to easy to just borrow a car, like she did when she killed the guy. No real way to keep her outta a car without keeping her jail. I’d be all for that but isn’t going to happen. Person that loans the car ought to be prosecuted.

[AJM100]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

It's obvious the driver fled the scene to avoid a DUI arrest. That's also why she waited 22 hours before turning herself in. Veteran drinkers know the tricks.

And it's no surprise she borrowed another vehicle to get around the interlock device. She's a pro.

+1, exactly. Unless she admits to drinking before driving this time around or investigators can reconstruct her activities before she drove they will never prove DUI.

However, it may be that she blew into the interlock device on her vehicle and it failed. If so, may be a record of her BAC level. Hope investigators check that avenue.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by AJM100

+1, exactly. Unless she admits to drinking before driving this time around or investigators can reconstruct her activities before she drove they will never prove DUI.

However, it may be that she blew into the interlock device on her vehicle and it failed. If so, may be a record of her BAC level. Hope investigators check that avenue.

If it fails, that info is transmitted to people who installed it.

[cachagua]

No real way to keep her outta a car without keeping her jail...

Sure, two easy ways right here: first is a quick scribble of laser light across each retina. Out-patient procedure, you go home the same day. Of course a blind person is dependent on the state to a certain extent, so this option isn't without its costs, but I'll bet if you factor in the reduced costs of cleaning up after sociopathic drivers -- if we applied this remedy consistently -- we'd still come out ahead.

I’d be all for that but isn’t going to happen...

No, sadly that'll take a wee bit more political will than we seem to be able to muster. However the other idea might be within reach, and that's house arrest using a GPS anklet. You cross your property line, your little light starts blinking on the map down at the precinct, and you get picked up and taken home. This actually has very wide applicability; the vast majority of today's prison population could be handled this way, which would result in enormous costs savings. The trouble here, of course, is that the money it's costing to maintain today's prisons is going into an industry that can afford a lot of lobbying... so again, political will is the limiting factor.

But, you know, choices/consequences, like everything else in life. If, collectively, we opt not to solve this problem, then we get to continue living with the problem.

[BobO]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

I get what you’re saying Bob; and I guess that’s the grim reality; but I’d like to think that if I were a judge and some train wreck showed up in my court room with a 5th DUI; I’d use my power to make sure there was no plea; no lesser charges; no more deals....and no more privilege to drive.

Maybe that’s idealistic, but how can the justice system reasonably think after being caught operating impaired half a dozen times someone will ever change?

There are five things going on here. First is that we have a legal system that is designed primarily to make it difficult to convict someone. This was done to put the onus on the state to prove guilt rather than have the defendant prove innocence. There's nothing wrong with that and it's vital to a free society. The second thing is that we've cluttered our law books, courts and prisons with victimless drug users. This means that there is an urgency for the state to move cases along quickly. It also means that there is precious little space to put DUI offenders who wind up back on the street. The third item is that the state receives rather large fines for DUI convictions. I'll just leave that there. Fourth as I noted earlier, there is a form of corruption in that prosecutors like to have high conviction rates and a often willing to not prosecute at all, or, plea to lesser charges in order get the conviction. The final item is that truthfully, until a DUI driver causes harm to another person, there is no victim. This places a burden on the system by leaving doors open for appeals.

In some ways the system is broken. But, the bones are good so with effort we can fix it. The first step in my mind is to take cases like this and throw the letter of the law at her. Maximum sentence. She is a killer, at least negligent homicide. She should die in prison. Same should be true for distracted drivers who kill.