Got slammed by drunk driver Sunday

[Gary Allan]

My wife and I were going to my daughter's place to spend some time and watch the football game. As we were entering High St. (our Main St.) we had a green light ..and a Lexus sorta continued into the intersection like they had missed the fact that their light was red ..sorta like they were making a left hand turn and got distracted. To make it easier to understand. We were on a cross street to the guy ..but taking a right turn ..putting us heading in the same direction as he was. My wife says, "What's up with that?

" and I say, "Yeah, guess they didn't figure out the light was red ..maybe on a cellphone

" ..and we moved on. We go through 3 more lights (all green) and then get caught at one. We're sitting there and all of a sudden WHAMMM!, we're launched forward. I get out and there's the same Lexus. Now I start putting 2+2 together and realize that this guy is majorly HAMMERED.

Now I was almost tempted, in my bleeding heart humanistic leanings way, to say "Hey, pal. Let me get your car off the road and you call someone to take you home and we'll figure this out later" ...but he was way too into rhetorical denial "What did I do? What happened? I don't see no damage? What got damaged?"

The carrier (hitch type thing) that I made up with a buddy at my old job for my wife was mangled up pretty bad. I don't think there was any other damage. If we'd been in something sitting lower, without this "crunch zone" added on, it would have been way different.

Anyway, there was no sense coming from this guy's mouth. At one point he started calling me "stuff" and threatened to "mess me up". He wasn't in any shape to do anything and he was not going to be doing anything if he was sober. He was just drunk and had limited resources with which to cope with what was happening to him. He had an odd tag. Oddly it was a "Drug Awareness" tag ..and had a very low number. The tag had a vertical (small) DA (for drug awareness) and only 4 digits.

Cops came ...parked his car ..took our info ..took him away. They didn't conduct a field sobriety test ..which I guess if it involves an accident ..they don't need to (I don't know). The assisting officer said that they were going to use the breathalyzer.

He should have called for a ride from the bar

 

[jcwit]

Well at least he got off the road before he killed or hurt someone.

 

[ARB1977]

Glad to hear you and your wife are fine. You would think [censored] people would learn not to get behind the wheel when your drunk.

 

[XS650]

Originally Posted By: ARB1977
Glad to hear you and your wife are fine. You would think [censored] people would learn not to get behind the wheel when your drunk.


The problem is that they learn that while they are sober, then forget it when they are drunk.

 

[Gary Allan]

Yeah ..that's the important thing. No one got hurt ..including him.

I don't know why we've been "chosen" to be the odd "calamity magnet of minor moral dilemmas". In this case, I didn't think I could say, "Then go ..and drink no more"

 

[XS650]

Gary, whenever you are in that situation, be sure you control your bleeding heart. Once peoples immediate safety is taken care of (maybe before), start documenting and getting the event straight in your mind. The odds of the person causing the accident trying to pin it on you are usually pretty high.

Sounds like the bozo in this case wasn't much of a threat though.

 

[Solo2driver]

So glad you and the family are okay, Gary!

Drunk driving is one of the most rediculous waste of human mistakes I know of.

A close friend of mine lost his mom to a drunk driver....at 10am, the DD rearended her at 90mph at a stoplight. The DD got out and tried to take the victim's jewelery. This was the DD's 4th accident, second fatality, and she was wanted on several other charges under different aliases, but the judges in CA kept letting her go...yes, it was a woman. Finally the DA made an example of her and put her away for life, but not after killing a few people in different drunk driving accidents.

Hope the guy learned his lesson, and glad he was taken away. Even good people can be caught in a bad situation driving home buzzed or drunk, but that doesn't take away the consequences.

 

[drivewaytech]

I have no sympathy for drunk drivers. If you are coherent enough to get behind the wheel, start the car and make it out of the parking lot, then you are coherent enough to make a conscious decision not to endanger other people's lives. I worked with a guy who had multiple DUI's. Even after loosing his license, he continued to drive. He usually stopped by his favorite watering hole on the way home from work. His retort to the situation was "all the non drinkers need to pay better attention and move out of his way".

 

[javacontour]

First, I'm glad you and yours are OK.

For the bit of humor, I recall some comedian saying something like 1/3rd of all accidents are caused by drunks, which means 2/3rds are caused by sober drivers. Don't you think we should be going after the sober drivers, they cause more accidents?

 

[wavinwayne]

Glad everyone's OK. I can sympathize with you.

I've had the unfortunate experience of being hit by a drunk driver as well. This was in 1994. I wasn't hurt, thankfully but my car was mangled pretty badly. The drunk that ran into me was plastered at 3:30 p.m. on a Friday. I was on my way to the shooting range to try out my new Glock. I never made it to the range that day. I was [censored].

That arsehole that cause my accident deserved a good old fashioned beat-down, but that wouldn't have been very gentlemanly of me, so I just waited for the cops to get there and haul his drunk butt off to jail. I never got a penny from that loser. My insurance had to pick up the tab for the wreck (a nightmare story in it's own right). I doubt that my insurance company was ever able to collect anything from the drunk, either.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Gary, whenever you are in that situation, be sure you control your bleeding heart.

My sense of humanity isn't awash in naivete~

A liberal is just a reactionary/conservative that hasn't been mugged yet.

I'm not one for letting my self image of "nice guy" mean fool. I've been to the rodeo too many times. But I try not to be punitive just for "being punitive" 's sake when I see no sum gain to it.

The guy got what he deserved ..no more ..no less.

My wife and I joked about this afterward. We're in a trap. For lack of a more truthful term (wink-wink), our observation of "Ontology" (metaphysics, perhaps) and how our actions is/are found to be the more important element in our life experience. Call it karma if you must.

We've just determined that we're just better off being as "clean" as possible in all matters. I know ..that surely means that we're going nowhere fast. That's a given.

 

[beanoil]

I have no sympathy for drunks either. I lost 3 great friends many years ago to a drunk driver that caused an accident. He did not judge space very well, and cut back too soon after passing my friends car, (yep he was speeding) hitting him and sending him into oncoming traffic. The head-on took all 3 of my friends. The drunk realized he hit something... he stopped and was looking at his truck, and was crabbing up a storm when the cops showed up. Traffic reconstruction put the scene together. He was charged with manslaughter, a second DUI, and did some time. Not near enough IMO.
Good for you Gary, and I'm glad you and spouse were not injured. I REALLY like that you kept your cool, and especially the use of the term "limited resources". I'm guessing those "limited resources" were in full effect to get him in that position in the first place. Some folks just don't get it.....

 

[JTK]

Gary, you truly are one of the good ones. Are you SURE your neck or back isn't hurting? The missus?? Oh man.. The lawfirm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe's dream case here.

Joel

 

[Gary Allan]

Nah ...it would come to no productive gain (can you tell that I've run the numbers?

). It would never work for us.

We have to be thankful that we really don't have to go that route out of true need

 

[Pablo]

You should have had the wife beat the snot out of the guy. Unconsious in the road, yep that's what you saw as soon as you climbed out of the car....

 

[mrsilv04]

Always keep anyone that you suspect to be something other than sober where you can easily see them.... through your windshield.

 

[02zx9r]

Friens of mine was killed 2 weeks ago from drunk driver, 21 years old. Life was just beginning for him.

Glad no one got hurt Gary!

 

[drivewaytech]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan
Nah ...it would come to no productive gain (can you tell that I've run the numbers?

). It would never work for us.

We have to be thankful that we really don't have to go that route out of true need

Must have been a late model Lexus that hit you.

You're right, important thing is that you and your wife are fine. We would miss decoding your posts if something bad had happened.

 

[wavinwayne]

Sort of on-topic: I had to go to defensive driving class for a speeding ticket years ago. One of the most valuable lessons I learned in the class was to never drive in the left lane on a 4-lane highway at night, unless you can see tail lights ahead of you. The reason: A drunk turns into oncoming traffic on a 4-lane highway, with his lights off (of course). He knows he's wasted, so he gets into the "right" lane to avoid getting popped by the po-po. Well, what he thinks is the right lane is actually the left lane of opposing traffic. By the time you see him at 65 mph, it's too late.

 

[Julian]

Wow. Glad to hear you're ok man.

I have a trailer hitch on my car too (yeah, I know). Always wondered what would happen if somebody smacked into me from behind with that thing on - guess it does make a difference.