No jail time for aide convicted in drunken hit and run death

Quote from Mr.Ritz : What if she didn't sleep 2 days and killed a family?

Jail.

Quote from Mr.Ritz : Do you think 10 years probation would have been ok if she would have stayed and helped.. Even if the person died? lol maybe if you are RICH RICH but your first dui costs like 5k.. That isn't even what farks you. It is that special insurance that ends up costing you 400 a month to drive a 98 honda civic Just about everyone person who drinks have been "drunk" at the wheel.

Link to a study?

As for killing the family after 2 days of sleep deprivation: if it was self inflicted sleep deprivation, one murder sentence per family member.

Quote from Xygonn : Link to a study? As for killing the family after 2 days of sleep deprivation: if it was self inflicted sleep deprivation, one murder sentence per family member.

http://www.alcoholismrehab.org/dr...past-year/

That is just in a year.. I read another one that said pretty much everyone will drink and drive at least 7 times in their lifetime

Quote from Mr.Ritz : http://www.alcoholismrehab.org/dr...past-year/ That is just in a year.. I read another one that said pretty much everyone will drink and drive at least 7 times in their lifetime

That article is rife with errors:

Quote : One in Five Americans Has Driven Drunk in the Past Year Posted in Drunk Driving According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately eight percent of all drivers—or 17 million people—have driven while under the influence of alcohol at least once in the past year. Conducted in 2008, the survey shows that 20 percent of people age 16 and over admitted to driving within two hours of drinking alcohol. Two-thirds of those ages 16 and over had driven drunk within the past 30 days. This means that about 8.5 million people drove drunk within a period of 30 days, up from 73.7 million in 2004

The first sentence contradicts the title. The second sentence is the support for the title.

Interesting, if I drink a (12 oz / 5% ABV) beer then drive, is that "drunk" driving. No. My BAC will be below 0.08 and I will not fail a field sobriety test.

The italic sentence does not make sense and is totally unsupported.

Even if 20% of people drove "drunk" last year, it would probably be the same people each year. A statement like "on average a person will drink and drive 7 times in their life" is totally meaningless. We don't know if that is mean or median. There is no info on the distribution. The most interesting statistic being what percent of people never drive drunk.

Quote from Mr.Ritz : What if she didn't sleep 2 days and killed a family?

Negligent homicide. Doesn't matter if it is alcohol, illegal drugs, legal drugs, sleep deprivation or anything else.

You knowingly and willingly operate a dangerous piece of machinery, while not being with the necessary mental faculties to do so, that is negligence. You are failing to live up to the requirements laid forth by the DMV in order to safely operate a motor vehicle.

edit: In this case, it should have been automatic jail time. Not only driving while drunk, but you hit someone, AND you don't stop to render aid? I would have given her the max penalty and let her rot in prison. Had she at least stopped and helped I would have been ok with a reasonable sentence. Gross indifference to the well being of someone you just injured is more telling to me about someone's character than if they have prior felonies.

Quote from Mr.Ritz : Do you think 10 years probation would have been ok if she would have stayed and helped.. Even if the person died?

I think it'd depend on the circumstances of the accident.

It's easy to say 'drop of alcohol in the system, guilty, guilty, guilty', but I think there are plenty of circumstances where you can have had a few drinks, get into a terrible accident, and not go to prison.

In this case, from what I've read, the windshield and the front of the car was smashed. I'm sorry, but I find it tough to believe that you can hit a person with your car, damage the front and windshield, and not realize what you did.

Quote from Danman114 : I think it'd depend on the circumstances of the accident. It's easy to say 'drop of alcohol in the system, guilty, guilty, guilty', but I think there are plenty of circumstances where you can have had a few drinks, get into a terrible accident, and not go to prison. In this case, from what I've read, the windshield and the front of the car was smashed. I'm sorry, but I find it tough to believe that you can hit a person with your car, damage the front and windshield, and not realize what you did.

I do not have a tough time believing you can panic in the heat of the moment, especially knowing you are going to pop as drunk, and just want to get out of there. I do have a tough time not calling 911 once you got home to make sure that person got an ambulance.