Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Police chases

Last year, there were officially 676 police chases in the Houston metropolitan area. These resulted in 34 fatalities and hundreds more injuries. There are many arguments about whether these chases are justified or not. I won't get into that. The bottom line (for me) is that citizens who choose to run from the police and choose to put the general public at unnecessary risk DO NOT DESERVE TO HAVE A DRIVER'S LICENSE. Their car should be impounded and sold at auction. They should serve a minimum jail sentence, the length of which would vary depending on prior history and the damage and injuries caused during the chase. That jail term might be 6 months; it might be 10 years; it might be life.
More often than not, these criminals are only charged with evading arrest. The 17 red lights they ignored, the 4 cars they hit and ran away from, the excessive speeds they drove and the cars they ran off the roads -- are all forgotten about.
In a majority of cases, drugs and/or alcohol are involved. What a surprise.
A driver's license is a privilege, not a right. Unless and until the consequences of their actions have some real bite, these chases will continue to increase, putting us all at more and more risk.

** reminder that we have a new topic of the week at Sobriety Society

todAAy i AAm grAAteful & thAAnkful

that I'm doing the best I can

that Scott W and I got to meet up with Scott (Sober Nuggets) @ Starbuck's here in Houston

for new faces at AA meetings

for old faces at AA meetings

that by the age of 18, I realized that black mollies (speed) would probably not be the way to live my life, so I stopped using them

for the handful of times I tried cocaine and did not like it at all

that since getting sober, I have not yet found the need to intentionally make hurtful or insensitive comments to other people

The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.
-Emily Dickinson

10 comments:

Jonathan29 said...

I wholeheartedly agree: I think people seem to forget that a driver's license is a privilege and not a right. Sometimes when I'm stuck in traffic, I think that perhaps too many people have the right to drive.

Have a good day!

Mary Christine said...

I am glad you got to meet up with the Scotts. I guess like the police wanna-be evaders, you don't get off "scott-free".

Scott W said...

Ha Ha Mary Christine!

That incident when David S and I were involved in a police chase most likely will prove very costly for David. The insurance company said that if the car was involved in a felony they do not have to pay. Of course, that won't be decided until the asshole goes to court and is tried and whether or not he is convicted. The police had been following this guy for a long time prior to the chase, but no drugs or illegal dildoes (anymore than 6 is illegal in Texas) were found in the car he used to evade the police and side-swipe us.

Shannon said...

I am excited you got to meet with Scott and Lexi (?)
I love this Daave: that since getting sober, I have not yet found the need to intentionally make hurtful or insensitive comments to other people...

Sunshine said...

I'm with you - driving is a priviledge!!! I was told by a cop friend of mine if you run from the cops you will get 'severely' arrested instead of just regular arrested..... and you don't want to be 'severely' arrested....

I'm glad you got to meet up with Scott and I hope you guys make it out to Journey tonight!

Rex said...

So happy for you that you got to meet up with Scott....it's really cool to meet folks from the online world. Where are the pics?

Scott W said...

Thanks, Sirreene!

JJ said...

I friggin loved cocaine. I hope your day is better than mine.
I see you bro,
JJ

madameplushbottom said...

glad you enjoyed hanging out with the scotts and starbucks is always nummy in my book.

Pam Jarnagin said...

Amen! Preach it, brother! You should be a legislator. I'd vote for you.