Head on collision: Drunk driver kills mom and 4 kids

OMG...how horrible.....that is so sad for the family.

DD

 

think of bamboo vs a bat.

take the bamboo with both your hands and slam it across your legs. sure, some of it will break but it will still be intact.

take the bat, do teh same thing and it'll completely break in half.

 

Drunk drivers are "extremely relaxed" when they are in an accident due to the alcohol. So they don't tense up like normal people do when they hit another car, causing less damage to their bodies.

At least, that's part of it. I have heard this from various articles I have read.

 

If she routinely blacks out and "doesnt know" how she got home, what else doesnt she remember doing while drunk?

 

If you read the article, it gives names and ages. It's only an assumption that they were married, but it's very likely. It also appears that 3 of the children weren't theirs. They have different last names and were from Michigan instead of Maryland like the Griffins.

DEAD:
Bethany Griffin, 36
Jordan Griffin, 10
Verde Griffin, 6 months
Lacie Burkman, 7
Haley Burkman, 10

SURVIVED:
Danny Griffin Jr., 36
Sidney Griffin, 8
Beu Burkman, 8,
Michael Gagnon, 24 (drunk driver)

 

think bruce lee...

 

Broken bones are rarely the cause of death in an accident, unless it's your skull, and your neck isn't strong enough to offer resistance, regardless.


In short, I'd bet 90% of injury is the rate of negative acceleration, 9% penetration of an object (Stick shift, 2x4, whatever) and >1% your body being "loose"


Enough derail, though... what a way to start the new year.

 

wow, this definitely makes a person to think twice before drinking and driving.

RIP

 

Unless you're a person who always tries to rationalize and justify your lifestyle and ends up tricking yourself into believing you don't do anything wrong.

 

DWI/DUI laws need to be much more stiffer in this country and states. My cousin got a DWI and all he had to do was spend one night in the tank, pay a fine, go to a DWI class, and do a week's worth of community service for his first offense. I think there needs to be much more time given for the first offense, maybe several months. A huge fine, $1000 or more. Then some large community service projects and drinking, DARE, or DWI classes. People who drink and drive get off way too easily.

 

^^^i don't know. the death penalty doesn't deter murderers.

 

Sumbags like this should rot with their clients.



Gary Trichter (DWI Attorney)

Explain to me what the hell this attorney does??
If your caught while driving drunk, it's against the law....PERIOD!!!
What is the freaking defense????

 

I've heard the ad on 610. If I were a radio host, I'd refuse to do that spot.

 

A Maryland DUI Lawyers Says - Everyone Deserves A Fair Trial

As a Maryland DUI lawyer, I have a job that requires more philosophy than most. You see, I have to face the fact that, a lot of the time, I am going to work to defend people who are probably guilty. People who’s behavior may of put others in danger, or even caused them injury or death. But as a Maryland DUI lawyer, I can sleep soundly at night despite all of these things because, while all the people who criticize me believe in vengeance, I believe in justice. And believing in justice means believing in the justice system, where everyone is entitled to fair representation in court, and everyone is entitled to the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty. Many people think that anyone even accused of drunken driving is scum and should be locked up and have the key thrown away. I see it differently. I think that we should not judge these people in the court of public opinion and really should say as little about their actions either way until the court system has had it’s say on the matter.

Before I was a Maryland DUI lawyer, I felt differently on the matter. One of my earliest memories growing up, was of having my parents car broad sided by a drunken driver. Fortunately, we were all wearing our seat belts and no one was permanently injured. But, my father’s back gave him trouble for years after that incident, and my mother suffered panic attacks. Growing up, I was in Students Against Drunken Driving and even wrote letters to my congressman asking for tougher punishments for DUI. If you had told me, growing up, that I was going to be a Maryland DUI lawyer, I would have said that you were crazy.

Being a Maryland DUI lawyer isn’t the same as being for drunken driving, or even for drunken drivers. A Maryland DUI lawyer is just one special type of criminal defense attorney. That is, an attorney who specializes in defending people against criminal charges. Our justice system is based on the idea that there are two sides to every story. As a trial lawyer, I make sure that my clients have their side told to the jury and judge, and that they know all of their rights when facing the serious accusation of driving under the influence. A Maryland DUI lawyer is every bit as much a part of the process of seeing justice done as a judge or prosecutor.

http://www.articlesmarticles.com/a-maryland-dui-lawyers-says-everyone-deserves-a-fair-trial/

 

That's because you're not guaranteed the death penalty of you murder somebody. My cousin's cousin was shot to death in Memphis after he walked between two people to go into a store. Because the police found 2 different types of bullet casings at the scene they (the courts) gave the guy who killed him probation. I think if eye for an eye was the case then many more murders would definitely be deterred.

 

Defense attorneys protect the law.

Not their clients.

 

If the government really wanted to deter drinking and driving, they would put more cops in the streets near areas with a lot of bars. I bet if you gave a breathalizer to everyone driving from 6th street in Austin on a Friday night, more than half would be legally drunk.

 

Actually those three children with different last names were the wife's kids from a previous marriage. The baby was also only 2 months old, not 6.

Horrible news.

RIP.

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=ohio&c=av

 

I feel as if I'm talking to a brick wall sometimes on this board.

How low/strict should the bar (pardon the pun) be set?

I said it earlier - you might as well go ahead and make the BAC standard .00000000000000000000001 for all that it matters (and it doesn't b/c "intoxication" is a subjective decision made by the arresting officer), and make it a mandatory 1 month in jail for a first offense and will not stop these kinds of deaths from happening. The guy was double the legal limit! You think he thought about the repercussions? Hell no. There are folks on their 5th DWI who have done serious jail time and STILL drive wasted.

I repeat my earlier post:

"How far is our society willing to go to combat the problem PREEMPTIVELY?

Alcohol sensors? Checkpoints at bars? Mass transit is part of the equation, as well.

The sad thing about it though is that the city/county/state are more concerned with upping the DWI conviction rates with invasive "after-the-fact" measures than they are with taking a bigger picture approach to stopping DWI deaths."

All I see in this thread is a lot of b****ing & moaning. Throwing everyone in jail - from those that have 2 drinks to those that have 20 - after the fact won't bring that family back or stop other families from getting killed. But making the after-the-fact penalties "tougher" makes us feel better right?

Speed limiters & alcohol sensors on cars, efficient mass transit, and holding bar owners responsible would do it, but bring that up and people beging to backpedal. "I don't do anything wrong, why should I have to sacrifice?" How many of you are willing to go along with that? Probably not very many.

In the meantime people will continue to die but we'll sleep better at night knowing we've Scarlet Lettered those damn drunk drivers!