In Memoriam Johnny Gaudreau & Matthew Gaudreau killed by drunk driver while cycling (MOD WARNING. No Flaming, Trolling, or Politics.)

[majormajor]

In day to day life, outside of a vehicle, these are probably all nice people, but behind the wheel they become something else.

This is a better illustration of my point:



I don't know if folks realize how different our behavior is, and how absurd it is, once we get behind the wheel. Now the killer, Sean M. Higgins, seems like more thoroughly a bad guy. But so many people, who are lovely nice people when they're not behind the wheel, end up doing the same stuff.

 

[tarheelhockey]

This is a better illustration of my point:



I don't know if folks realize how different our behavior is, and how absurd it is, once we get behind the wheel. Now the killer, Sean M. Higgins, seems like more thoroughly a bad guy. But so many people, who are lovely nice people when they're not behind the wheel, end up doing the same stuff.

It’s not cars that do it, but anonymity. Virtually everyone you see in your car is a stranger with no way to track you down.

Exact same behavior happens on the internet.

In both cases, the behavior changes dramatically when people are dealing with someone who knows them.

 

[wraithsonwings]

I can’t find newer numbers than these from 2015 but Canada has the US beat here.


View attachment 958128

Infographic: The Worst Countries In The World For Drunk Driving

This chart shows the percentage of road accident deaths involving alcohol in 2015 (selected countries).

www.statista.com

View attachment 958129

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/canada-tops-list-of-developed-countries-for-rate-of-impaired-driving-fatalities/article_eec511cf-7d73-5f03-8aec-2cc5055e5dd5.html

That's disturbing, but also nearly a decade ago. I don't know how relevant it is.
Although, covid did cause an uptick... be interesting to see something recent.

 

[Paper]

HIm turning down a 35 year plea deal is mo surprise. At his age that is virtually a life sentence. He will probably get 15 years which seems right. And make no mistake. If Gaudreau was not a superstar nhl player that plea would have been about 15 years. That in itself is another huge problem with the law that needs to be fixed.

There's hundreds of examples across the States of DUIs fatalities that result in limited or even no jail time. If it wasn't for the publicity, he almost certainly gets offered far less than 15 years even.

MSN

A Sussex County man who admitted driving drunk when his pickup collided with an SUV, killing a teenage driver days before graduation, has been sentenced to six months in jail, authorities said Monday.

Brian Weiss, 45, of Wantage, was sentenced Dec. 13, 2024, after pleading guilty to third-degree strict liability vehicular homicide for the crash that killed Jonathan Fett, 18, also of Wantage, according to the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office.


Prosecutors said Weiss had a blood-alcohol content level of .14% when the SUV he was driving collided with Fett’s vehicle on June 13, 2021. The legal limit for driving in New Jersey is .08%.

'This was not a mistake, this was a choice': Son gives testimony in fatal Morristown crash

Phillip Walker II, of Bernardsville, admitted he drove drunk in 2021 and crashed his Porsche into a Jeep, leading to the death of Diana Yannotti.

www.dailyrecord.com

Walker listened to Yannotti's impassioned speech as his lip quivered just minutes before Judge Stephen Taylor, a state Superior Court judge in Morris County, handed the 36-year-old his sentence on charges of vehicular homicide and aggravated assault. Walker, who pleaded guilty to the charges in November in a heavily negotiated deal with prosecutors, will serve roughly five years before he is eligible for parole. Prosecutors say Walker's blood alcohol content was over double the legal limit of .08% when his Porsche Cayenne careened into the rear of Jeep Cherokee, causing the SUV to crash into a ditch.

Walker also admitted to a weapons offense after police found a 9mm handgun with hollow point bullets and high-capacity magazines in the car's trunk.

Ex-cop gets 5 years for killing man in drunk driving crash, trying to cover it up

Louis A. Santiago, 26, of Bloomfield, previously admitted in a guilty plea that he caused the crash that killed 29-year-old Garfield resident Damian Dymka, officials said.

www.nj.com

A former police officer who fatally struck a man while driving drunk on the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway and attempted to cover up the crime scene has been sentenced to five years in prison, Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore N. Stephens II said.

Louis A. Santiago, 26, of Bloomfield, previously admitted in a guilty plea that he caused the crash that killed 29-year-old Garfield resident Damian Dymka, officials said. The former Newark Police officer pleaded guilty to reckless vehicular homicide, desecrating human remains, official misconduct and driving under the influence.

These guys had additional offenses beyond just the accident, and they'll be spending 5 years in jail.

 

[tarheelhockey]

There's hundreds of examples across the States of DUIs fatalities that result in limited or even no jail time. If it wasn't for the publicity, he almost certainly gets offered far less than 15 years even.

MSN

'This was not a mistake, this was a choice': Son gives testimony in fatal Morristown crash

Phillip Walker II, of Bernardsville, admitted he drove drunk in 2021 and crashed his Porsche into a Jeep, leading to the death of Diana Yannotti.

www.dailyrecord.com

Ex-cop gets 5 years for killing man in drunk driving crash, trying to cover it up

Louis A. Santiago, 26, of Bloomfield, previously admitted in a guilty plea that he caused the crash that killed 29-year-old Garfield resident Damian Dymka, officials said.

www.nj.com

These guys had additional offenses beyond just the accident, and they'll be spending 5 years in jail.

Granted it involves a 17 year old and sentences are lighter for minors, but a Tik-Tok’er in Florida just got 12 years for killing SIX people when he slammed into them at 151mph while showing how fast he could drive for his channel.

SIX people.

(but they were farm workers, so)

 

[Memento]

Check out the story of Kyren Lacy

Or even Khyree Jackson, Isaiah Hazel, and Anthony Lytton Jr. Three kids (Jackson was just drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, and the other two were his high school teammates. None of them were over twenty-four years old.) whose car got hit by someone driving drunk. They died. The drunk driver lived.

Or a friend of mine who was killed by a drunk driver who had numerous offenses, ran a red light on a suspended license, and killed one of the kindest women I knew, a mother of three.

If someone wants to drink themselves stupid or destroy things in a rage in their own house with nobody around, that's their prerogative, but the second they do that shit on the road and get someone hurt or worse, that is un-f***ing-forgivable.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

There's hundreds of examples across the States of DUIs fatalities that result in limited or even no jail time. If it wasn't for the publicity, he almost certainly gets offered far less than 15 years even.

MSN

'This was not a mistake, this was a choice': Son gives testimony in fatal Morristown crash

Phillip Walker II, of Bernardsville, admitted he drove drunk in 2021 and crashed his Porsche into a Jeep, leading to the death of Diana Yannotti.

www.dailyrecord.com

Ex-cop gets 5 years for killing man in drunk driving crash, trying to cover it up

Louis A. Santiago, 26, of Bloomfield, previously admitted in a guilty plea that he caused the crash that killed 29-year-old Garfield resident Damian Dymka, officials said.

www.nj.com

These guys had additional offenses beyond just the accident, and they'll be spending 5 years in jail.

Yeah. That is something I will never agree with. A human life is a human life. Whether you can shoot a puck or your a janitor.

 

[Mike C]

Or even Khyree Jackson, Isaiah Hazel, and Anthony Lytton Jr. Three kids (Jackson was just drafted by the Minnesota Vikings, and the other two were his high school teammates. None of them were over twenty-four years old.) whose car got hit by someone driving drunk. They died. The drunk driver lived.

Or a friend of mine who was killed by a drunk driver who had numerous offenses, ran a red light on a suspended license, and killed one of the kindest women I knew, a mother of three.

If someone wants to drink themselves stupid or destroy things in a rage in their own house with nobody around, that's their prerogative, but the second they do that shit on the road and get someone hurt or worse, that is un-f***ing-forgivable.

Amen brother!

 

[CarolinaBlueJacket]

These days Driving While Angry is a huge problem. Higgins was 0.087 if I remember which means he was not blinding drunk. His problem was impatient which is usually done sober.
The following does not apply to everyone and not all the time for those who do it...
I like @majormajor post showing how differently people act in cars than in person. I don't think this is due to people being strangers and the anonimity that goes with that. Strangers in lines don't usually behave like this. Our brain interprets other cars as objects, not as people. When we see them as cars instead of people then they become things that are in our way and our brains justify doing whatever it takes to win. Add in how fast things move when you are in a car and these types of situations will happen.