DUI warning issued after woman is trapped for hours in crash
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OLYMPIA, Wash. - State troopers are warning drivers to beware because officers are making an alarming number of DUI arrests this holiday weekend.
The warning goes out to those who are drinking - and to innocent drivers who may cross paths with a drunk driver.
Troopers already have responded to some truly close calls this weekend.
The Washington State Patrol says a woman who went airborne on a rural road was trapped for several hours before anyone noticed her car in the trees.
And officers stopped a wrong-way driver on Highway 101 who thought he was on a different highway in a different part of the state.
With Monday being a holiday, there could be more dangerous hours ahead on the roads as too many drunk drivers climb behind the wheel.
"It's a scary thought to think somebody's out on the road, not really in control of themselves or their vehicle," says Trooper Guy Gill of the Washington State Patrol.
State troopers in Thurston and Pierce counties have made at least 55 DUI arrests so far this weekend - including, officers say, the 29-year-old driver of this car that careened off the road north of Lacey.
She survived the crash - through pure luck, troopers say.
Trooper Gill is so concerned about the alarming number of DUIs this holiday weekend, he blared it all over Twitter.
"We want people to know that's our goal," Gill says. "We want to remove as many of those drivers from our roads as we can."
In one tweet about the 29-year-old woman, Gill wrote: "Apparently this driver is a hard learner. It's not her first DUI. ... Use a designated driver, take a taxi, call a friend, make another choice."
Sunday afternoon at Hannah's Bar and Grill in Olympia is relaxed, providing a chance to ask the bartender: how can taverns help?
"I take it personally because I always put myself in somebody else's shoes," says bartender Rob Miller.
For him, not overserving is about more than just protecting himself legally. He feels it's his moral responsibility to intervene and call a cab when necessary.
"We watch how they're acting and interacting with others. If they're obviously intoxicated, we won't serve them," he says.
While the woman in the Lacey-area DUI accident injured only herself, drunk driving accidents too often claim innocent victims.
"You're putting yourself and putting the lives of everybody else on the road at risk," says Gill.
The warning goes out to those who are drinking - and to innocent drivers who may cross paths with a drunk driver.
Troopers already have responded to some truly close calls this weekend.
The Washington State Patrol says a woman who went airborne on a rural road was trapped for several hours before anyone noticed her car in the trees.
And officers stopped a wrong-way driver on Highway 101 who thought he was on a different highway in a different part of the state.
With Monday being a holiday, there could be more dangerous hours ahead on the roads as too many drunk drivers climb behind the wheel.
"It's a scary thought to think somebody's out on the road, not really in control of themselves or their vehicle," says Trooper Guy Gill of the Washington State Patrol.
State troopers in Thurston and Pierce counties have made at least 55 DUI arrests so far this weekend - including, officers say, the 29-year-old driver of this car that careened off the road north of Lacey.
She survived the crash - through pure luck, troopers say.
Trooper Gill is so concerned about the alarming number of DUIs this holiday weekend, he blared it all over Twitter.
"We want people to know that's our goal," Gill says. "We want to remove as many of those drivers from our roads as we can."
In one tweet about the 29-year-old woman, Gill wrote: "Apparently this driver is a hard learner. It's not her first DUI. ... Use a designated driver, take a taxi, call a friend, make another choice."
Sunday afternoon at Hannah's Bar and Grill in Olympia is relaxed, providing a chance to ask the bartender: how can taverns help?
"I take it personally because I always put myself in somebody else's shoes," says bartender Rob Miller.
For him, not overserving is about more than just protecting himself legally. He feels it's his moral responsibility to intervene and call a cab when necessary.
"We watch how they're acting and interacting with others. If they're obviously intoxicated, we won't serve them," he says.
While the woman in the Lacey-area DUI accident injured only herself, drunk driving accidents too often claim innocent victims.
"You're putting yourself and putting the lives of everybody else on the road at risk," says Gill.
Should be automatic jail time.
I wish I had gotten the warning before the weekend and I would have stayed hme instead of drinking and driving. Thankfully nothing happened and I was not stopped. Whew, I never knew it was a problem.
60 % of FATAL accident involve alcohol (NOT necessarily caused by)
Explain to me what about the other 40%??? NOT PAYING ATTENTION!!!! Following to close. Driving beyond their capabilities. Know when to say enough is a bigger problem. .08% come on! it's just a revenue generator for Government.
for the cost of a DUI it would be cheaper to have a tow truck take you and the vehicle home.
Humm, wrong way on the wrong highway plus being in the wrong state, I wonder if they bookem Dano...
Personally I have no time for people who drive drunk... The problem ..take your self out if you want to... but you kill others .. and sometimes walk away .. The punishment you receive is another whole issue ..
was she still drunk when they found her? seems like if she simply refused to blow by the time they got her car roof sawed off and the neck brace on her and all that other jazz followed by an ambulance ride to the hospital she would be under the legal limit once they were able to force a blood draw. and how did she get her car started? no ignition lock even though she had a previous dui?
@dorimonsonfan There's a formula used to calculate what a person's blood alcohol was in the hours prior to the blood test. So even if she was a .08 when the test was done, they could calculate back and figure out she was a .30 (or whatever) at the time of the crash.
@commonsense it would be difficult to prove the time of the crash if no one found her for a few hours.
@dorimonsonfan ...and everyone metabolizes alcohol at different rates.
@commonsense @dorimonsonfan It is not valid data
@sam why?
@dorimonsonfan I know several people who have gotten a DUI, but I don't know anyone with an interlock device. Most "first time" dui's are plea bargained down to a lesser crime.
@Stock Woodie @dorimonsonfan http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/transport/state-ignition-interlock-laws.aspx Laws have changed...any alcohol related
The court shall order any person convicted of an alcohol-related violation or an equivalent local ordinance to apply for an ignition interlock driver's license and to have a functioning ignition interlock device installed on all motor vehicles operated by the person.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a lot of data about DUI laws in other countries. The report is dated March 2000 but it still makes interesting reading.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/DWIothercountries/dwiothercountries.html#_Toc449518797
I'm kind of curious why this holiday weekend in particular saw a spike in DUI arrests as most people don't have Monday off. Â Is it college kids, public or bank employees that are being busted? Â Or is there simply more law enforcement this weekend than normal?
The way I read the story line it sounded like they warned the trapped woman about the dangers of DUI while she was trapped.
"The warning goes out to those who are drinking - and to innocent drivers who may cross paths with a drunk driver."
So what does the WSP want the innocent to do, not drive anywhere?
So while the woman was trapped, was she continuing to drink? Seems if her body was metabolizing the alcohol at the rate of two ounces of liquor hourly, she would be under the limit after a couple hours, no?
she wasn't hurt and she was trapped for several hours. I don't feel sorry for her one bit. Too bad the buzz didn't wear off before she was found so she'd know what she did wrong
All you have to do is plan your night before you leave the house instead of "I'm going to go get drunk somewhere, then we'll see what happens!" That's IT.
55 arrests in two counties in one weekend. That's a horrifying amount of people driving drunk. It's shocking. Drunk driving should be one and done. No exceptions. You get caught, your driving privileges are over. The metro system is really good for getting to work and back despite its flaws. Get caught driving drunk, become a bus rider for life. AFTER you get out of prison. Why do we feign sympathy for these selfish scumbags?
@jowsuf "The metro system is really good for getting to work and back despite its flaws."
Maybe it works for people that work bankers hours in Seattle. For me to take public transportation I would have a 9 hour a day commute to reduce my drive by 50%.
@4ShotLatte I think you're missing the point. Drunk drivers should lose their privilege of convenience. That said, the metro system works for a very great majority of people, and not at all just for the 9-5 city crowd. I've taken the bus for years in several different cities and have worked jobs with shifts all hours of the day and night. Your daily commute is definitely going to be longer (I've done 3hrs to and from each work day), but I don't think anyone should really be complaining about longer commutes when that comes with the territory, especially considering the impressive area the metro system covers. There are very few places that aren't bus friendly outside of really rural areas.Â
I always find that the people who have the most to say about the metro system are the ones that don't use it.
Just this weekend? I've noticed an increase in traffic cops ever since marijuana was legalized here. I go to work at 4 in the morning. Before, I was lucky if I passed one cop in a week, now I'm passing 2 or 3 every single day along I-5. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I doubt it.
@Shelly Coincidence. Sorry if you are used to speeding in the morning ;-). Actually between 4 and 6am is when there's the lowest amount of Troopers on the road. There hasn't been extra patrols since the new law came into affect.
@Hippo Donut @Shelly Who said I speed? What crawled up your butt & died? If you want to know the truth, I have been driving for 30 years, and my last ticket was in approx 1987, and that's not because I just didn't get caught, it's because I drive the speed limit. Â
Drunks don't care about hurting or killing anyone. Being drunk is their goal.
@jdoll88 It's only going to get worse when the first pot head causes an accident. And there is no real way to prove that beign stoned caused the accident.
@Steve Giovanis @jdoll88 As long as the state gets their desired tax revenues who cares how many accidents, deaths and carnage pot heads will cause.Â
I reported a friend last year that called me intoxicated while driving --- We aren't friends anymore and that's fine with me.
@whenudieitsdone Huh?
@whenudieitsdone With friends like that..........
Why is it other criminals have their names in the article. Even customers of prostitutes can end up with their names in articles. let's start doing the same with drunks and drug drivers. You can use the condom of "alleged" or "presumed ' .to protect the public . Start naming names.Â
Must be government employees getting the dui's, most people with real jobs have to work tomorrow.
@hinterland - I have a 'real' job and I don't work for the state or the fed and I am off on holiday tomorrow. So put that in your sock and stuff it.
@hinterland I have a real job and I have off...sucker!
@hinterlandI hope youre not referring to the men, women, and retired vets of the armed forces in your ignorant post.
@DarkRenegade @hinterland I was being sarcastic,ignorant post? lighten up a little, i served in the military, politicians are my target.
@DarkRenegade @hinterland
DR, I had some fine civilian GS's working for me before I retired. Actually most of them were great. And the only reason there was such a rush to the time clock at their quitting time is because Command had stated if they were late punching out, theyâd be written upâ¦.
No overtime for youâ¦.. not even six minutes.
More reason that we should be happy that marijuana is legal. 99.9% of smokers will smoke, get high,have the munchies and veg until they are back to normal.Â
Amen to that and a life time ban on driving.
@wickeddriver All they will do is drive without a license and without insurance.Â
I wonder how many are freaking stoned from pot? I say make the first DUI a $100,000 dollar fine or five years in prison.
@Exiled_Patriot I'm assuming you want the same punishment for alcohol too, unless you're a hypocrite.
@Shelly @Exiled_Patriot Yep that is why they call it DUI driving under the Influance.
Ive never met anyone who got a DUI while being stoned, and most people seem to drive better when they are high. Not advocating for it at all, but its not even anywhere close to being in the same league.
@northwestsurfer Because there is no way to field test for such a thing, yet.
@Steve Giovanis @northwestsurfer Law enforcement can do the same type of field sobriety tests for drugs that they do for alcohol (testing for physical reactions, impairment, etc).Â
@northwestsurfer Funny thing, I've never heard a drunk that didn't say he/she was a better driver when drunk. I guess stoners have the same attitude.
@northwestsurfer KIRO did a study on people driving under the influence of marijuana that aired yesterday. Every one they tested drove fine with at least 3X the legal limit in their system. One girl who smokes often still passed the driving test with over 10X the limit.Â
@Exiled_Patriot Its reefer madness, I tell you.