When you get behind the wheel intoxicated, you are not only putting yourself and others in danger, but also breaking the law. Drunk driving is responsible for a staggering number of accidents, personal injuries and fatalities on US roads.
There are other consequences, as well. Just ask Stephen Verdo Johnson, who just received a twelve year jail sentence for charges related to a fatal Colorado accident that occurred while he was driving drunk. He plead guilty on the 31st of August to Vehicular Homicide, a class 3 felony, and Leaving the Scene of an Accident, a class 5 felony.
The Berthoud Recorder brings us a synopsis of the accident:
On May 1, 2010, the Colorado State Patrol was notified of a serious injury crash on Larimer County Road 17, just north of Colorado Highway 287. A vehicle driven by Johnson ran off the right side of the road where it traveled into the barrow ditch and struck a motorcycle head-on. Johnson then fled the scene, continuing north on CR17 for approximately a half of mile before stopping. At impact, the motorcycle passenger sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at Poudre Valley Hospital and the driver of the motorcycle sustained serious injuries. Stephen Johnson’s blood alcohol content was three times the legal limit when taken at the hospital after the accident.
And then there are consequences for the victims, and the families of victims. The motorcycle passenger who died was Patricia Thoen, 76, a mother of four and grandmother of five.
The consequences from just this one accident are mind-blowing: one life lost, four children lost their mother, five children lost their grandmother, a husband lost his wife, and a drunk driver gets twelve years in jail.
Don’t drink and drive!
Source: “Man sentenced to twelve years in vehicular homicide,” The Berthoud Recorder, 10/20/10
Source: “Man in fatal crash gets 12 years in prison,” The Coloradoan, 10/21/10
Image by Shashi Bellamkonda, used under its Creative Commons license
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