Every holiday season you start hearing the public messages about drinking and driving, almost becoming “background noise” for some people because we hear it so much. However, it comes down to two salient facts: first, the messages really have made a difference, and second, they are important.
Last year, Kent officers made more than 300 arrests for DWI, or “driving while impaired.”
The term “impaired” is used because it doesn’t only apply to alcohol use, with its familiar .08 alcohol content limit, but also impairment due to drugs. Drivers have been arrested for impairment due to obvious drugs like cocaine or meth, but also anti-depressants, sleep aids, and even paint fumes.
Just last week, a Kent officer observed a man driving through a red light. After pulling the vehicle over, the officer asked the man to roll down the window. The driver proceeded to ask the officer why he was stopped, all the while holding a joint in his hand. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that his decision making may have been affected somewhat after sparking up a doobie.
By far the most common drug in impaired driving cases, however, continues to be alcohol. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2007 12, 998 people were killed in crashes in which a driver was impaired. That annual total has been decreasing every year, but it is still an amazing statistic. Think about the fact that almost 13,000 people died from a completely preventable act: choosing to drive drunk. 13,000 people would be a small city with its own high school, several restaurants and a radio station. And all those people die because of drunk drivers every year.
Last year, Kent officers arrested well over 300 drunk drivers, and we are very active in working with the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission in getting state grants to provide extra funds for extra drunk driving patrols. Catching and stopping drunk drivers is important. Let’s try to get beyond the statistics and look at how it affects real people.
Just last Monday, a man was travelling on 260th Street here in Kent, crossing Pacific Highway on a green light just after 10 p.m. A driver went through the red light going north on the highway, and T-bones the other car at high speed. The man driving legally had very serious injuries, including a collapsed lung. He was treated by Kent Fire personnel and taken to Harborview, where he is still in critical condition. Get beyond the “press release” language of what you just read, however, and think about how you would feel if that was your spouse, or child, or parent. You will start to see how drunk drivers affect us all.
The suspected drunk driver, as often is the case, was not seriously injured by the crash he caused. He jumped out of his burning car and fled on foot. Nearby residents saw him running and their assistance enabled our officers to locate and arrest him. He tested at a .21 alcohol content, almost three times the legal limit.
This is one example of an individual’s choice resulting in another person being directly changed, maybe forever. If the drunk driver had instead chosen to use a weapon to hurt the other person, we would call that felony assault. Many years ago, drunk driving was not considered a big deal. Like domestic abuse, our society has made a conscious effort to change that attitude, and to take it seriously.
Here in Kent, we have had a Drinking Driver Task Force for many years, which works both to educate residents and coordinate grants to reduce drunken-driving incidents. The task force is now tracking complaints and drunken-driving arrests from individual bars. The task force works with our department to offer extra training for servers for businesses that are identified. If there is no cooperation or improvement, the task force works with the state liquor board to oppose the renewal of their license.
Not to add to the “background noise,” but please think about the individual effects of drunk driving, not just the statistics, and drive sober.
Have a great week.
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