The grandfather in the car of the decapitated child grew up a few blocks from here. I once worked with him and was best bud with his bro.

This is an ongoing horror.

Now that I like!!

or bring back the "Iron Maiden"

Maybe drunk driving incidents would go down if we had public executions and torture like the friendly country Saudia Arabia.

I don't know why but aftermarket limo's don't have to meet Federal safety standards. Plus consider most people don't wear seatbelts while in the back. Not a good scenario when a collision occurs. And your very right about limo's being simply a stretched version of a regular vehicle. The "stretch" area of one of these things is the weakest area and basically becomes the "crumple zone" .

I've always thought that after one drunk driving offence you get a huge fine and a good long license suspension, but eventually allowed to drive again. After a second offence your license is gone for good, no questions, no chance to ever get it back again. (and this in addition to any other fines, charges etc. that may be imposed)

Anyone can make a mistake once, and should be allowed to atone for it. Do it again and you're done for good.

I agree, however it's usually the lawyers that plea-bargain on the behalf of the drunk driver that get's the fine reduced to speeding or some other misc. offense so the DWI conviction will not show up on their record.

There's the problem. 2nd offence, you blow over the legal limit, no plea bargaining. Period. That's black and white (blow over or under), no chance to bargain. License is good for good. Plea bargain down the other charges if necessary, but that person should never be driving again - ever.

Saying you need a license to drive is akin to saying you can't drink until you're 21. You only need a license if you want to drive legally. If you're an intoxicated idiot, you only need a car and a key because even with a license, you are still driving illegally.

That's true, and that's a weakness in my plan. Although I would think (or at least hope) that not having a license might stop at least some people from driving, drunk or otherwise.

Little or nothing on the first DWI/DUI is a big problem. No fear of random checks/ in Europe you do not want to get caught, they don't care if you do have 2 or 3 kids, or a spouse that cannot drive..take the Bus.When these folks finally make the evening news ..you will find most of them are multiple offenders.
Rika

No doubt. But my point is that when the drunk gets on the freeway going the wrong way (ie up the off ramp) they tend to drive as far right as possible to be law abiding citizens. Hence, as wrong way drivers they end up in the fast lane.

As to the crumple zones etc, the limo looks pretty intact after the driver's seat. The front end is gone, completely, and the truck only looks done in to the front axle level. Any chop of the limo shouldn't have affected (WAG) the crumple characteristics of the engine compartment. Hence, my surprise.

Too bad he won't get sequential terms rather than concurrent.

Christien and Rikao4: I think you're on to something. We don't treat negligent driving seriously here in the U.S. Drunk driving (particularly when it's not just the first offense) is negligent driving. You don't just make a little mistake when you're caught a third, fourth, or ninth time (there's a LOT of that here on the Cape). My proposal: if you're found guilty of negligent driving and there's a bad outcome (i.e. your drunk driving causes death/dismemberment/etc.) you lose your license forever. Because clearly you have shown you can't be trusted with anything close to good judgement when it comes to driving. Everyone (today) guilty of stuff like this says they're rehabilitated, get their license back a few months later, and then go on to commit the same offense over and over again. So just pull their ticket...for good. Their name goes on some national list whereby they can never again get a driver's license (in any state), rent a car, purchase/register/title a car, or get car insurance. In short, they're bumming rides or taking public transportation forever. Then, if they violate that (and are caught driving again), they get thrown in jail forever. I don't think too many people would be keen on execution, so that'll never fly. But once it gets to the point of recurrent episodes of negligent behavior in something as serious and deadly as driving a car, it stops becoming a matter of the drunkard's personal freedoms and personal convenience, and starts to become a matter of my own (and that of my friends and family and other generally law-abiding people) personal safety. I don't want to end up a hood ornament because someone's drunk and driving, or because they're chatting on the phone while rocketing through dense fog beyond their available visibility, or because they've decided to zip along the shoulder around stopped traffic and run over someone stopped in the breakdown lane. Again, my criteria for inclusion are grossly negligent behavior resulting in a bad outcome.

Silly me. With no legal education and the handicap of common sense, I would think this guy would be happy to stipulate to the fact he was hammered. What we know is that he killed two people. Without a drunk driving conviction, I guess we'd have to assume he was sober when he killed them.

After the judge threw out the blood evidence he allowed a DNA test so the DA could prove the blood sample belonged to the a**hole.

When they got the DNA results they found 2 peoples DNA. Apparently the creep swapped spit with a cellmate to try and throw off the test.

Guy deserves the 25 years that he has coming to him.

Of course we get to foot the bill for the trial as well as the appeal that I'm sure is coming.

Scott

retribution

He was found guilty of murder today
 

true to some extend
yes , cops hold unannounced traffic stops on highway fuelstations or even secondary roads...
they funnel everybody , and nobody get's out... they have cops standing with motorbike to swiftly recover those who try to doubleback(on normal roads) , and also to spot those who try to swap seats...

and even if you get stopped for a normal thing, like speeding or a taillight out .. in Holland you will be breathalized by default by highway cops and even by normal traffic cops...

nevertheless, we still have dingbats driving around without licence, papers or even insurance... and some actually get away with it for long time.. only last month did hte news report an article bout a man who had been driving around for 30 years, but never got a licence...he didn't drive bad, or under influence, but , if he can do it , so can repeat dui offenders...

there are always loopholes