Work acquaintance in jail for DUI manslaughter .

Man I've known for 15 years decided to drive after "about four beers".

He didn't see a motorcycle coming and turned in front of it. Bike hit his (company) truck on the passenger rear door. Impact created fire and bike rider was killed on scene and (bike) passenger girlfriend may not live.

(Truck) guy was supposed to be in a meeting with me a few days later and I heard he had been in an accident. I asked his boss after if he was okay. I was told "he is in jail" and I found the rest of the story online. 

Biker may have been going 120, I don't know... but "about four beers" removed any debate about fault.

A Life tragically and unnecessarily lost. Possibly two. Survivor's family lost their only income provider. 

We can all afford an Uber. Don't drink and drive, friends. 
 

edit: I should not have speculated about speed. There is no suggestion in the reporting that the biker did anything wrong. I (poorly) suggested that to make a point that a mistake while drinking can change everything... it is simply not worth it.

I've just gotten to the point where I won't drive if I've had anything at all. It's just not worth it. I'm sorry for families involved. Everyone loses. 

Better still, Don't drive and drink! The decision is made before you're under the influence and no longer clear headed.

I give thanks all the time for my DUI.  Sounds weird but it's true.  I used to go out and have a few and drive home.  It never occurred to me that I was over the limit.  "I feel fine to drive."  The night I got a DUI I was initially kinda ticked because I was 0.015 over the limit, but it hit me later that maybe I was over the limit for years.  What if I had killed someone?

That has been years ago, and I still refuse to have a single drink if I'm going to be driving in the next few hours.  $20 for an Uber sure beats taking a life and spending years in jail.

I told my boys growing up that there were three ways they could ruin their lives:

-Develop a drug habit

-Get a girl pregnant, either at the wrong itime or the wrong girl

-Drink and drive and kill or injure someone.

There are probably others but drinking driving has a high probability of wreckage both real and figurative.

I retired from the fire department and I could tell you many stories of where we arrived on an accident scene and found the drunk driver without injures and the innocent person whom they hit that was dead. 

I did it once. Thought I felt fine to drive. I remember having to really concentrate keeping it straight. Then I  had a moment of totally clarity. I was drunk. The shock of that epiphany was unlike anything else.  Never, ever again. F-dat.

Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:

I retired from the fire department and I could tell you many stories of where we arrived on an accident scene and found the drunk driver without injures and the innocent person whom they hit that was dead. 

I always told my kids that. Don't get into a car when anyone has been drinking because that guy always survives and kills the others. 
I'll play devils advocate on this one though, IF the other driver was doing something stupid (not in this case, just as an question), doesn't he deserve some of the blame? Good chance a sober driver would have been same results. 
 

Edited to clarify as in a general sense

Possibly. No one should be doing 120 on the street...in/on anything. It would be on the motorcyclist if the car was driven by someone sober.

But they weren't.

Isn't there some loophole where someone can be arrested/found guilty of a DUI even if <0.08? Seems like I recall that there was an attempt to convict some member of the military for that.

At that point, seems like you could easily do the same to anyone in the middle of a conversation, listening to music/podcast, eating, texting, tired, navigating, etc.

I think what OP meant was, "even in a scenario where the other driver may have otherwise held some responsibility for the collision, your choice to drink & drive means that you will be held responsible/go to jail. so don't drink/drive, because doing so surrenders your rights. (in addition to the many other reasons not to)"

What are the other consequences of a DUI? (outside of potentially injuring/killing innocent people).

-monetary costs (>$5-$10,000? tow/impound, license, interlock, fines, bail/court, reeducation, insurance, lost wages..)

-loss of license (3-12 months?)

-breathalyzer interlock

-car insurance rates increase (3-10 years, 2-4x increase?)

-probation?

-reeducation camp, or drug abuse therapy

Is there civil liability? I imagine the DUI-er's life is fairly ruined if you cause someone permanent disability, or >$100-500k in hospital bills.

101 reasons not to. Condolences to the victims & their families. Driving drunk isn't worth it for anyone.

In reply to Steve_Jones :

Please see my edit 

In reply to tremm :

You 100% described what I "meant". I definitely didn't want to malign the victim who apparently was a good kid.

Sorry to hear about this loss.  When I was young my friends and I would joke about driving buzzed or drunk.  My nephew lost a friend in Oklahoma that involved a fast car, 2am, high speed and drunkenness.  

Today there are so many ways to easily get a ride.  Take advantage and maybe save a life (or two). 

I don't believe that being drunk, automatically makes you at fault.

I had an uncle that was involved with a similar accident. He ended up with a dui but was cleared of anything else.

I don't know many other details and he has since passed.

Best luck to all involved. 
 

. 

Folgers said:

I don't believe that being drunk, automatically makes you at fault.

Many States do, which is another reason to just not do it. My Brother was stopped at a red light, got hit by a guy that didn't hit the brakes at all. He blew .08. Automatically charged with the entire thing as "he was on the road illegally"

In reply to Steve_Jones :

I had no idea that was the case. Today I learned. 

In reply to Folgers :

Usually the same if you have no/suspended license, no insurance, etc. You're automatically at fault because you shouldn't have been there. Makes sense to me. 

My brother had 3 DUIs when he was younger , 

What scared him was the next one was automatic prison !

this was in the 70s-80s , now they are much tougher .

He is up to about 20 years with AA , seems to have really helped him.

 I hate to say it , but that's why I am against legal pot ,  how many stoners ever said they were too buzzed to drive ?  Let's just say not enough , 

Stay safe

So rarely does someone with a DUI get held responsible when they kill someone.  As a motorcycle rider, I hope he gets a long prison term.  What'll probably happen tho is he'll get probation, meanwhile the people he killed are still gone.

This will sound harsh for your co worker, but he deserves to be in prison. 

In reply to tremm :

Yup, here's a guy who blew 0.00 and passed a drug test but still booked for DUI based on field test Cops body cam of event.

Yeah if you're drunk, suspended license,  etc. it is immediately you're fault in an accident as your operation of a vehicle is illegal in itself. We lost about 5 kids in 2 years at my high-school to drunk driving including a buddy I played soccer with killing his younger brother hitting a tree on the way home from a party. He was never the same and ended up passing away from an overdose back at Thanksgiving.

That I didn't have an accident or a DUI while I was in college makes me incredulous.

As the survivor of not one but two head-on on collisions caused by drunk drivers, one of which is why I have an erector set for a right leg and spent a year re-learning to walk, berkeley your work acquaintance. His life may be ruined, but he still has a life to live. And berkeley anyone else who drives drunk.

Steve_Jones said:

Folgers said:

I don't believe that being drunk, automatically makes you at fault.

Many States do, which is another reason to just not do it. My Brother was stopped at a red light, got hit by a guy that didn't hit the brakes at all. He blew .08. Automatically charged with the entire thing as "he was on the road illegally"

We might be talking about two sides of the same coin.  I think we should delineate between legally at fault and culpably at fault.  For instance, in many states if you rear-end someone, it doesn't matter if they baited you with a brake check, you're at fault legally, even though it was morally the person who intentionally caused the crash.  Similar laws exist for pedestrians in crosswalks.  If you hit one, it doesn't matter if they intentionally ran out in front of you or not, the law says you're considered at fault.

There are, of course, circumstances where something like a dashcam or witness has turned the tides on the ruling, but in PA, you're both kinda right.  If the motorcyclist didn't (for instance) have his headlights on, of course the motorcyclist is the screw-up and the person would have hit him sober or drunk, but because the driver wasn't sober, it's pretty much legally a slam dunk.

docwyte said:

So rarely does someone with a DUI get held responsible when they kill someone.  As a motorcycle rider, I hope he gets a long prison term.  What'll probably happen tho is he'll get probation, meanwhile the people he killed are still gone.

This will sound harsh for your co worker, but he deserves to be in prison. 

I totally agree.

I feel some sympathy for his boss who seems torn about cutting off the family, but he also seems resigned to the reality that it must be done.

Multiple horrible outcomes from a bad decision.

But the survivors get far better than what the two on the bike (and their loved ones) got.

slefain said:

As the survivor of not one but two head-on on collisions caused by drunk drivers, one of which is why I have an erector set for a right leg and spent a year re-learning to walk, berkeley your work acquaintance. His life may be ruined, but he still has a life to live. And berkeley anyone else who drives drunk.

Damn. Twice!? And I agree with you.