> Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >Kevin Tarr wrote: > > Some people on this list consider drunk driving to > >be a horrible crime that > > isn't punished harshly enough. <snip> > IMO, it isn't punished harshly enough when it leads > to death, dismemberment or disfigurement. <snip>
Agreed. If it only involved the death or maiming of the imbiber, a harsh view would be "Darwin at work!" But of course all-too-frequently, those who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong moment are the victims. 1996 stats: "Alcohol consumption was associated with 476,000 crashes (7% of the total) and 17,126 crash fatalities (41% of the total). On average, one alcohol-related crash fatality occurred every 31 minutes..." http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/3566-3642.html Child fatalities in alcohol-related MVAs: "During 1997�2002, a total of 9,622 child passengers died in motor-vehicle crashes; 2,335 (24%) were killed in crashes involving drinking drivers. Of the 2,061 alcohol-related crashes involving drinking drivers in which children were killed, 1,624 (79%) involved at least one driver with a BAC of >0.08 g/dL..." http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5304.pdf The cost: "In its publication The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that the total cost of alcohol-related crashes exceeded $50 billion in 2000..." http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/whd2004/information/MV-Facts.pdf Debbi __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Search - Find what you�re looking for faster http://search.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
