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News and Articles on Driving Under The Influence
The tragedy of drunk driving has effected the lives of many people. These articles reflect on the many incidents of drunk driving and their effects on local communities. We encourage you to Submit articles which represent the effects of drunk driving on your community.
| 280-mile cycle ride was such a Graceful act Mar 29, 2010 |
| “WHEN times got hard, all I could think of was Grace.”
Car crash survivor Joe Robinson was yesterday gven a rousing reception by friends and family as he finished an emotional cycle ride from Paris to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital as a tribute to his friend Grace Hadman. Driver Gabriella Edmondson was jailed for two years and three months in October after admitting causing death by careless driving while drunk. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| DUI charges in teen cyclist’s death Mar 29, 2010 |
| Impaired driving charges have been laid against a 33-year-old man, who has at least one previous drunk driving conviction, in the death of a 17-year-old girl in Long Plain First Nation.
Skylar Meeches was riding a bicycle on the southern Manitoba reserve’s main road when she was killed by an alleged drunk driver Tuesday night.
The suspect has a court order barring him from consuming alcohol, according to court records.
Meeches was 10 days shy of her 18th birthday.
Long Plain Chief David Meeches said he fact she died tragically at such a young age is difficult to accept. Portage la Prairie RCMP have charged the alleged driver, Derrick Lee Myran, 33, of Long Plain, with impaired driving causing death, driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08 causing death, breach of probation (failing to abstain from alcohol), and five Highway Traffic Act offences. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| Demographic factors also influence drinking and driving Mar 29, 2010 |
| As lawmakers mull over legal fixes for Montana’s drunken driving problem, they might want to consider what federal researchers discovered two years ago:
It’s not just the law that influences drinking and driving. Demographic factors, like age and gender, also play a big role.
One of the best ways to cut down on drunken driving fatalities is to have a bunch of women over the age of 34 driving around, according to a May 2008 report by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. They’re much less likely to drink and drive.
Since 1982, states have passed a total of 245 laws cracking down on drinking and driving, according to the report. Nationally, the number of alcohol-related fatalities has dropped markedly in that time. In 1982, some 35 percent of drivers in fatal car crashes had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent, what’s now defined as “legally drunk” under Montana law. By 1997, that figure had fallen to just 20 percent. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| Colorado woman heads to trial in death of Greenwich librarians Mar 29, 2010 |
| DENVER (AP) -- A Colorado woman facing vehicular homicide charges in the deaths of two Riverside women will go on trial next week.
Sandra Jacobson is accused of causing an accident in February 2009 that killed 71-year-old Kate McClelland and 54-year-old Kathy Krasniewicz. They were librarians at the Perrot Memorial Library in Old Greenwich who were headed to the Denver airport in a taxi after a convention. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Greenwich Post |
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| Eight S Korean gov't officials killed in car accident Mar 29, 2010 |
| Eight South Korean government officials, including seven from the agriculture ministry, were confirmed dead in a car accident in the southern part of the country after attending a workshop Friday night, the government said on Saturday. The police said that they were still investigating the exact cause of the crash, as the driver might have lost sight of the rock as heavy fog caused dangerous road conditions Friday night or it could be related to drunk driving. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| Mesa State honors students who have died since 2007 Mar 29, 2010 |
| Three years ago, Mesa State College students, friends and family gathered on campus to remember freshmen Jake Brock and Jennifer Kois after the two were killed in a car accident caused by a drunken driver.
Each spring since that first gathering, the college has sponsored Remembrance Day to honor each student or recent graduate of the college who has died since March 2007.
Seven names were added to that original two for this year’s event, which took place Saturday outside Grand Mesa Residence Hall, next to a tree planted in remembrance of Kois and Brock. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| A lower drink-drive level will make Kiwis safer on the roads Mar 29, 2010 |
| OPINION: It's time to weigh the arguments of opponents against the evidence.
In April, the Cabinet will decide whether to lower the blood alcohol limit for driving from 0.08 (80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood) to 0.05mg (50mg alcohol/ 100ml blood) as part of its new road safety strategy, Safer Journeys. There should be no doubt about the decision.
A lower limit means people drink less or not at all before they drive because they don't want to get caught driving drunk. This results in fewer accidents caused by alcohol.
Polls show a majority of New Zealanders favour reducing the limit, but there remains a diminishing minority who oppose the reduction. It's time to weigh their arguments against the evidence. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| Baum sentenced to 40 years as driver in double fatalities Mar 29, 2010 |
| KINNELON – Eugene Baum was sentenced to 40 years in state prison on Friday, March 26 for killing two girls in Kinnelon while driving drunk.
Baum, 48, will be 80 years old before he will be eligible for parole under Judge Salem Vincent Ahto's sentence, of which Baum must serve 85 percent. His driver's license was also permanently revoked.
Baum, of Dover, was driving drunk at 8:06 p.m. on April 20, 2006 to his mother's house in Kinnelon when he struck and killed cousins Mayada Jafar, 15, of Kinnelon, and Athear Jafar, 16, of Jefferson as they walked on the shoulder of Kinnelon Road to the movie theater in the Kinnelon Mall. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) North Jersey |
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| Anita Mann Pleads Not Guilty in DUI Accident Mar 29, 2010 |
| LAS VEGAS -- A Henderson teen pled not guilty in a drunk driving case that killed two people.
Nineteen-year-old Anita Mann entered her plea in court on Tuesday. Police say her blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit just before noon on February 16th when she crashed into the couple's car on Horizon Ridge near Stephanie.
Her bail was set at $225,000 and her preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 11th. When asked if she understood the charges against her, Mann said she did.
She is facing two counts of felony DUI for the deaths of 66-year-old Louis Madden and 65-year-old Karen Hicks who were killed on February 16th. The couple was headed home from lunch when Mann's car rear-ended their car. Police say Mann's blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. Steve Wolfson, who represents Anita Mann, said Tuesday that his client was "in full acceptance of her responsibility" and knows she will suffer consequences." (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| South Burlington woman carrying 7 kids charged with DUI Mar 29, 2010 |
| Mary R. O’Neil, 37, of South Burlington was arraigned Thursday on charges she was severely drunk when police arrested her last week as she was driving seven children to the movies in Williston.
According to a police affidavit, O’Neil had a blood-alcohol content of 0.379 percent — almost five times above the legal limit for driving — when she was pulled over by Williston police after driving over the curb on Cypress Street in the Maple Tree Place complex.
O’Neil pleaded not guilty to a charge of driving under the influence and another count of careless and negligent operation of a motor vehicle. Then she was released on personal recognizance, over the objections of Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan.
Donovan had sought to have the court set $2,500 bail for O’Neil pending her placement in a residential alcohol treatment facility, but Acting Judge Christopher Davis disagreed, citing O’Neil’s deep ties to the community. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media)
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| Drunken driver who killed Highland teen gets 14 years Mar 29, 2010 |
| The driver accused of killing a Highland High School girl in a 2008 collision has been sentenced to 14 years - the maximum sentence allowed under terms of his plea agreement.
Manuel Contreras-Galdean, 33, signed an agreement last year in which he pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter and aggravated assault for the Nov. 15, 2008, collision that led to the death of Kelly Tracy, 16, of Mesa, and injured her brother, Matthew Tracy, then 17, as he was driving them to Highland High, Maricopa County Superior Court records show.
Mesa police said Contreras-Galdean was driving with a blood-alcohol content above 0.19 percent - two-and-a-half times the legal limit - and had been on cocaine.
Judge Richard Trujillo listened quietly Friday, as the Tracy family and their friends remembered Kelly as a spiritual, loving girl who dreamed of helping other people understand their faith through music, prayer and scripture. (Every 15 Minutes Program News and Media) |
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| Family Of Alleged Drunken Driver Wants Justice Mar 29, 2010 |
| ATLANTA -- The trips to the Fulton County Courthouse have turned into family events, but the family of Shameyka Welch is determined. They want to see the man accused of killing her take responsibility.
Cassandra Ford, Welch's mother, said "A little remorse, show something."
In November, Welch, her boyfriend and their two daughters were driving home on I-20. They were hit head-on. Robert Ayiteyfio is accused of driving drunk and also down the wrong side of the road. (Every 15 Minutes Program News and Media) |
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| A Southern California school teacher has been arrested for allegedly Mar 25, 2010 |
| THERMAL, Calif. (AP) - March 25, 2010 -- A Southern California school teacher has been arrested for allegedly teaching while drunk.
Toro Canyon Middle School teacher Tonya Neff was taken to the Indio jail Tuesday afternoon and booked for investigation of felony child endangerment. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media)
Administrators at Thermal's Toro Canyon Middle School told the Riverside County Sheriff's Department that the 47-year-old teacher was apparently intoxicated on campus.
Sheriff's Sgt. Mike Tapp says Neff had taken prescription drugs and alcohol and an alcoholic beverage was found inside a container.
Coachella Valley school district Superintendent Ricardo Medina says there was never a threat to Neff's seventh-grade students. Neff has been placed on leave. |
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| Man Charged with public drunkenness after reports that he tried to res Mar 25, 2010 |
| State police said several witnesses had seen Donald Wolfe, 55, tending to the roadkill about 65 miles north-east of the city of Pittsburgh.
One reported seeing Mr Wolfe kneeling before the animal and gesturing as though he were conducting a seance.
Another reported seeing him give mouth to mouth resuscitation to the carcass.
State police Trooper Jamie Levier said the animal had been dead a while, the Associated Press news agency reports. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media)
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| Woman accused of misdemeanor manslaughter in local man’s death Mar 9, 2010 |
| A Ramona woman who allegedly struck and killed a motorcyclist in front of a school last September has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter and driving on a suspended license.
Katrina Flippin, 28, is charged with causing the death of Mark Anthony Taylor, 46, who was riding his motorcycle on Sept. 15, 2009, about 5:10 p.m. in front of the Olive Peirce Middle School. Flippin made a U-turn in front of him on Hanson Lane, and Taylor crashed into a rented Dodge sedan she was driving.
District Attorney spokesman Paul Levikow said Flippin is charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter because there were no allegations of drunk driving or driving under the influence of drugs. The maximum sentence is one year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Ramona Sentienel |
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| Viewpoint: Get drunk drivers off our roads Mar 9, 2010 |
| The death of Mishawaka (Ind.) Police Cpl. James J. Szuba and his K-9 partner on Jan. 9 was murder. And the individual charged in this case had multiple drunk driving convictions. And he still had a vehicle as his weapon. Why? (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: mlive |
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| Fraternity discourages drinking & driving during spring break Mar 9, 2010 |
| NACOGDOCHES, TX (KTRE) - "This is weird," laughs one girl wearing goggles designed to simulate what you see while drunk. Once you put the drunk goggles on your perception of drunk driving should become crystal clear.
"I'm leaning to the left. Leaning to the right. Not at all would I consider driving this way," Grovey Latimer, president of Omega Delta Phi Fraternity said. The service fraternity sends that message out each week before spring break. They call it Brothers Against Drunk Driving, a nationwide push on college campuses to save lives.
(Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Order your Drunk Goggles at http://www.every15minutes.com/products/
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| Drunk drivers scrutinized in new report Mar 9, 2010 |
| Harris County Precinct 4 takes its responsibility for curbing driving while intoxicated or driving while under the influence seriously. As part of their effort to keep the roads safe for citizens, they make regular updates to the “Leanne Report,” one of the largest and most comprehensive compilations of statistical data on DWIs in the state.
“The report is named for Leanne Moore Gaulden, the youngest daughter of former Precinct 4 Chief Deputy Karen Moore, who was killed by a driver with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent at 7 a.m. the morning of Dec. 13, 1999,” said Woody Mitchell, assistant chief deputy. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: The Tribune
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| SADD President - Impaired Driving Real Mar 9, 2010 |
| REGINA — At 17-years-old now, Ashley Wilkie never imagined she’d be attending the funeral of one of her best friends.
A car carrying five teens lost control and collided with a tree on McCarthy Boulevard in 2008, killing three of the five people inside, including her friend who was driving.
“I was really mad. I knew they were drinking,” said Wilkie, who is now the president of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) at Sheldon Williams Collegiate.
Rand Teed, host of SCN’s television program Drug Class, will be speaking to 10 schools throughout the province as part of the awareness week. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media)
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| Bill would close loophole in DWI cases Mar 9, 2010 |
| A bill that would make it harder for drunk drivers to escape prosecution passed the Senate last Thursday.
Sen. Charles Fuschillo, R-Merrick, who has pushed for the passage of legislation (S.46-a/A.8601-a) commonly referred to as "Jack Shea's Law" in reference to the late Olympic medalist who was killed by a drunk driver in 2002, said he is hopeful the bill will now pass the Assembly.
Shea's death, for some, highlighted the need to revise Section 1194 of the state's Vehicle and Traffic Law, which spell out who is qualified to take a blood sample from an intoxicated person at the scene of a drunk driving accident. (Every 15 Minutes News & Media)
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| Parents urged to talk to kids about alcohol before Spring Break Mar 9, 2010 |
| For many students, spring break is a carefree time away from classroom pressures. Unfortunately, for many it is also a time of excessive drinking and dealing with its aftermath-violence, sexual aggression, and even death. As your high school or college-age sons and daughters prepare to celebrate their spring break escape, take the opportunity to talk with them about the consequences of binge drinking and alcohol poisoning. (Every 15 Minutes News & Media) Source: The Police News |
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| Mother Wants Answers, Justice After Daughter’s Death Mar 9, 2010 |
| A Charlotte mother is still waiting for answers weeks after her daughter was killed by a driver who police said admitted he'd been drinking.
The driver of that car has been charged with DWI, but so far faces no charges connected to the death of Shalenia Smith.
Police said Christopher Breeding hit Smith on North Tryon Street. She was walking to the Wal-Mart across the street.
Smith’s mother, Karen Owens, said she remembers the hours that followed the accident all too well.
“I actually managed to get close [at the hospital] and I managed to give her a kiss and told her I love her,” Owens said. “But she didn't open her eyes.” (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: WSOCTV |
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| Man gets 3 to 9 years in fatal crash Mar 9, 2010 |
| Nicholas R. Swan, 24, was convicted of one count of felony first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two felony counts of second-degree manslaughter, one misdemeanor count each of third-degree assault and driving while intoxicated, the Broome County District Attorney’s Office said.
Swan was convicted Dec. 15 in a non-jury trial before Broome County Judge Martin E. Smith. Swan was driving drunk on Sept. 9, 2007, when he crashed, killing Torrence Wilcox and Bobby Infante. A third passenger in Swan’s vehicle, Kimberly Demkovich, was injured in the crash.
(Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Pressconnects |
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| Navajo community mourn death of sisters Mar 9, 2010 |
| SANTA FE (KRQE) - Santa Fe Police said a man, known to be a repeat drunk driver, is responsible for a five vehicle pile-up Friday night that left two sisters Del Peshlakai, 19, and Deshauna Peshlakai, dead.
The Peshlakais are from Naschiti, a Navajo community south of Farmington. They were very well-known at Newcomb High School where Del graduated in 2008 and Deshauna was months away from her own graduation.
“When you saw them, their facial expressions just made you want to smile right a long with them, that's the type of girls they were," Newcomb High School Principal Albert Madera said.
(Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: KRQE |
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| Nedrow woman admits guilt in fatal I-81 crash Mar 9, 2010 |
| Syracuse, NY - A Nedrow woman who was pulled from her burning car after slamming into a bridge abutment on Interstate 81 in Syracuse admitted her guilt today in the death of a passenger in that crash last summer.
Stephanie L. Campbell, 25, of 313 Route 11A, pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to a single felony count of first-degree vehicular manslaughter in the July 5 death of 29-year-old Lindsay A. Thomas of Nedrow. Senior Assistant District Attorney Christopher Bednarski said he had been looking for a sentence of three to nine years in prison. Defense lawyer Randi Bainco said she had been looking for a sentence of 1 1/3 to four years in prison. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Syracuse
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| Premier Mike Rann pledges to ban repeat driving offenders for life Mar 9, 2010 |
| REPEAT drink-drivers and drug-drivers who are a "menace to society" will be banned from driving for life under reforms pledged by Premier Mike Rann.
Mr Rann today announced the Police Commissioner would be given the power to suspend the licences of repeat offenders and branded cars "lethal weapons" in a similar class to guns. Road Safety Minister Michael O'Brien said the changes had been requested by Police Commissioner Mal Hyde. Opposition finance spokesman Rob Lucas said Mr Rann should use the laws to ban Mr Koutsantonis from the road for life. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Adelaidenow
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| Parents of Pasco girl killed in wreck sue county Read more: http://ww Mar 4, 2010 |
| The Pasco girl was in the back seat of her father's 1986 Jaguar when Allen Joshua "A.J." Cockrum's motorcycle crashed into the car's back door.
Though Cockrum, 19, was drunk when he ran a stop sign. A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court blames the speeding motorcyclist who blew a stop sign and county officials for the death of Nicole Lynn Woodbury. Kennewick lawyer Diehl Rettig, who represents parents Sharon and Jeff Woodbury, also believes county road crews missed many opportunities to install such safety devices as flashing lights to alert motorists to the upcoming stop sign. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: The News Tribune, WA |
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| Man who hit, killed horse gets jail Mar 4, 2010 |
| HAMILTON - A man who was driving drunk when he hit a horse, killing it and injuring its owner who was walking alongside the animal, was sentenced to 150 days in the Butler County Jail on Wednesday.
Russell W. Toon, 39, apologized as Judge Craig Hedric sentenced him in Common Pleas Court Wednesday morning. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) |
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| Center Township man pleads guilty in drunken driving fatality Mar 4, 2010 |
| A Center Township man received a 2-to-10-year state prison sentence Monday in Hancock County, W.Va., for driving drunk last year and causing a crash that killed a Hanover Township man.
Glenn R. Krugel III, 26, of 137 Poplar Drive pleaded guilty in Hancock County Court to drunken driving causing death and drunken driving causing bodily injury, according to Prosecuting Attorney James Davis.
Krugel was charged in a Memorial Day crash that killed Michael J. Tangora, 35. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Beaver County Times |
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| Man charged with woman's death Mar 4, 2010 |
| SAN ANTONIO -- New details are now out about a deadly drunk driving wreck in our area from earlier this year.
Tuesday morning News 4 WOAI obtained the arrest warrant for Rafael Miranda. You may remember that he's the man Bexar County deputies say caused that wreck back in January, and is now charged with intoxication manslaughter. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: WOAI |
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| Suspect in Deputy's Death Pleads Not Guilty Mar 4, 2010 |
| Deputies wearing black bands on their badges escorted the fiancée of San Diego County sheriff’s deputy Ken Collier into the courtroom Wednesday.
Deputy Ken Collier, 39, died after his patrol car crashed into a bridge abutment and rolled hundreds of feet down a freeway embankment early Sunday morning. Jose Pedro Lopez Jasso was drunk and high on marijuana. Damon Moser with the district attorney’s office requested bail at $500,000 arguing that the defendant is a Mexican national with an immigration hold and should be considered a flight risk. Judge Brannigan set bail at $750,000.
(Every 15 Minutes News & Media)
Source: Suspect in Deputy's Death Pleads Not Guilty | NBC San Diego
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| Arizona man gets 3½ years in drunken-driving death Mar 4, 2010 |
| An Arizona man who pleaded guilty in the drunken-driving death of a 69-year-old woman near Towaoc will serve almost 3½ years in federal prison.
Valentino Kieyoani, 24, pleaded guilty in June 2009 to one count of involuntarily manslaughter and two counts of assault causing serious bodily injury.
He was sentenced Monday to 41 months behind bars by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn in federal court in Durango. (Every 15 Minutes Program News & Media) Source: Durango Herald News |
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