Drive HAMMERED get NAILED

“DRIVE HAMMERED GET NAILED”
This is the tagline for the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission’s fight against drunken driving campaign. While I agree with what the campaign stands for (more state patrolmen on the road to catch drunk drivers) you are almost challenging the audience to get behind the wheel drunk and see what happens. Ms. Lambert, why would you even give someone the chance to drive after they have been drinking? Why not eliminate the chance of anyone getting hurt because of one individual’s careless choice?
Put our tax dollars to better use. Spend the money on the mandatory enforcement of the ignition interlock device that could SAVE YOUR CONSTITUENTS every year.

Dispelling the Rumors of Drunk Driving

Stop listening to what you hear. If you are drinking you should never get behind the wheel. Here are some common myths about drinking and driving

*You can sober up quickly by drinking coffee, taking a cold shower or
consuming an energy drink.
-- Only time will sober you up. Typically 1 our per drink
*Big people can handle their alcohol better so they can drink and still drive
*You can develop a high tolerance.
*If I stay with beer and never drink the hard stuff so I’ll be fine to drive.
*I can only get charged with a DUI if my BAC is .08 or higher
*You can fool the breath test.
--The following are urban myths to change your BAC
1. Put a piece of metal in your mouth
2. Suck on a alkaline battery
3. Place a penny under you tongue
4. Put a fresh stick of gum in your mouth
5. Blow very hard
6. Hardly blow at all
7. Lick a piece of tin foil
8. Hold your breath before the test
9. Starchy foods will absorb the alcohol in your breath
10.Oxygenate your blood by taking deep breaths

ACCOUNTABILITY

From the blog of Garth Brooks, former prosecuting attorney and former DUI defense attorney:


"Currently, the crime of DUI does not have an element of “INTENT” Prosecutors do not need to prove the defendant intended to drive under the influence. However, if every car was required to have an Interlock Device, and an individual was caught Driving Under the Influence because they disconnected their Interlock, that would be clear evidence the individual intentionally committed DUI. Such conduct could become a felony requiring a five year minimum prison term. DUI would be nearly eradicated in the United States."


Garth Brooks blog:
http://blog.seattle-duiattorney.com/

DRUNK DRIVERS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS

Reality Check

521 lives were lost in Washington last year.

You have the chance to save lives. Are you willing to make it?

Lives that COULD have been SAVED

STEVEN ANTHONY RHONE JR.

This group for everyone that knew Steven Rhone and got a chance to experience him as the great person that he was. He was a great friend to everyone that knew him and he was a young man that had such a bright future in front of him. I know that he would greatly appreciate all the support that people are giving his family and friends. All we can do now is give his family our best, who are so thankful that Steven has this many friends to remember him And also, for the people that are around the same age of Steven, just realize how special life is and look how things like this DO happen to people you know and just get as much out of life as you can, that's how Steven did it. ----Excerpt from a Facebook group in memory of Steven



NICK ADENHART

The lives of Angels’ rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, and friends Henry Pearson and Courtney Stewart were cut short by the ignorant choice of 22 year-old Andrew Thomas Gallow. He got behind the wheel with a BAC of three times the legal limit and broadsided Adenhart’s car.

This accident could have been prevented: “Gallo pleaded guilty to drunken driving in 2006 in San Bernardino. He was sentenced to two days in jail, three years of probation, a $1,374 fine and a four-month alcohol treatment program, court records show. He didn't serve any jail time, however, because he received credit for time served.”





ADAM ZIMMER & LINDSEY ARNOLD-ZIMMER

"A Granite City man with five prior DUIs accepted the maximum sentence for driving drunk in a 91-mph crash that killed a young couple and their unborn child.
Donald W. Canterbery, 57, received a 28-year prison sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to aggravated drunken driving and related charges. He pleaded guilty to driving drunk in a February wreck in Pontoon Beach that killed Adam Zimmer, 26, and his wife, Lindsey Arnold-Zimmer, 24, both of Granite City. Arnold-Zimmer was five months pregnant."

The thing these individuals have in common: their lives could have been saved by the ignition interlock device.
IT HITS HOME A LITTLE HARDER WHEN YOU SEE THE FACES OF THOSE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES

The Perspective of a Judge

Legislation has been passed, and people across the U.S. have seen the effectiveness of the ignition- interlock device. Unfortunately, the laziness and ignorance of people, some who you would not expect, has kept the device from saving innocent people

On May 28, 1987 LaDoris Cordell became the first judge in California to require the installation of the ignition-interlock device upon first-time conviction for drunken drivers. She received harsh criticism from her colleagues “who wanted to dispose of these cases quickly and quietly.” They saw the extra paperwork involved in issuing the device as a waste of time.

Twenty years later Cordell’s goal of legislation for the interlock device has become a reality. Today, all 50 states grant a judge with the authority to mandate installation of the device. But, her peers are still disgruntled due to the same issue: time constraints.

Some judges across the U.S. still have this view point regardless of evidence which demonstrates the effectiveness the ignition-interlock device on our society. “The American Journal of Preventive Medicine notes that five out of six studies found that interlocks reduced the rate of recidivism for DWI charges. Participants in the interlock programs were 15 percent to 69 percent less likely than other offenders to be rearrested for drunken driving.”

Currently, the future of this legislation is in the hands of the judges across America. So Ms. Lambert I am challenging you to make a change, take the power. Judges should no longer have the option of whether or not to use the legislation.It should be mandatory.



http://www.slate.com/id/2229209

Drunk Drivers are Murders

I'll leave you with this video. The ignition interlock device will not eliminate all drunk driving fatalities, but it is a step in the right direction.