\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Trying to keep from choking up, a member of my congregation, a soccer mom, announced Sunday what many of us didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and what some of us had just read \u00e2\u20ac\u201d about the deaths of five Las Vegas residents whose minivan collided with a truck going the wrong way.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0“It could have happened to any of us,” the speaker, Carol Linder, said, her voice breaking as she identified a young member of our congregation well-acquainted with one of the victims.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Well, it did happen to all of us.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0True, we still have our lives and our families intact, but the devastation that occurred over the all-too-familiar refrain of a driver with too much booze in his system and a handful of prior Colorado DWI arrests, affects us all.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Millions of tears have been shed, condolences have been offered, awkward exchanges have occurred, and the endless refrain of “I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to say” has been evident. So momentous was the accident that coverage of it appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and U.S.A. Today.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0To their credit, many West Las Vegas High School students at an assembly Monday took a pledge never to drink and drive.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Nobody in this area has been immune. And like a pebble dropped into a lake, causing ever-expanding ripples, the story has gripped the entire state. A long-time friend, Vince, phoned me Wednesday with the question, “Will the media ever let up on this story? We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re feeling it even in Albuquerque.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0I hope not, at least not for as long as it takes to recover from this corporate anger and grief, as long as it takes to produce positive results.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The driver of the wrong-way vehicle, who died in an Albuquerque hospital a few hours after the deaths of five people, had a 0.32 blood-alcohol level, considered in this state to be four times what the law allows. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been arrested five times prior, in a state with much less tolerance for DWI than New Mexico. Certainly it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not his \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or anybody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Constitutional right to mow down law-abiding motorists after bracing himself with drinks.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Fellow passengers on the Sacramento-to-Albuquerque flight say they saw Dana Papst, the driver of the wrong-way pickup, down at least one miniature of Jack Daniels while in flight. According to them, Papst was quite intoxicated even before that time, which makes us wonder how he was ever allowed to board the plane in California.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Reports indicate that after landing in Albuquerque, Papst assured airport officials he had someone on the way to pick him up. Yeah, right.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t anyone else \u00e2\u20ac\u201d such as a parking lot attendant or a convenience store clerk where Papst may have gone to re-stock \u00e2\u20ac\u201d think of calling police?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0When we implore our loved ones to “be careful out there” as they hit the road, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s implied? How much more careful can people be when they obey the rules, buckle up, drive within the speed limit and refrain from drinking?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0How many defensive maneuvers can the law-abiding employ when all seems right with the world, but suddenly they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re faced with a split second to react?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0How much \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or in this case, little \u00e2\u20ac\u201d time was there for evasive action?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0All of this leads to the now-emasculated refrain that “we have to do something.” Well, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already done a lot: we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve conjured up a lot of catchy slogans such as “you drink, you drive, you lose.” And the legislature enacted statutes to make such offenders sorry. Officials talk of stiffer penalties for those who dispense liquor to the already intoxicated.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Interlock devises become required equipment on vehicles of those convicted of DWI, preventing the car from starting until the driver sends a puff of non-alcoholic air into the device.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0We need a system of reciprocity that informs our motor vehicle department of the disposition of prior DWI arrests and convictions in other states.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perhaps little irony in the fact that Papst was able to secure a legal license in New Mexico. And let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not forget the consistently high ranking of the Land of Enchantment when it comes to motor-vehicle deaths per capita.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0And yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and yet \u00e2\u20ac\u201d we read almost daily about the endless dismissals and wrist slappings. The feeblest arguments by some who may think our laws are too strict, are \u00e2\u20ac\u201d
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Why impound the vehicle? The vehicle didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t crash into those people by itself. So why punish the vehicle?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 We shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deprive a person of his means of making a living. If he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t drive to work, well, do you want him to end up on welfare?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 If you take away the offender\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s means of transportation, it punishes family members who may also need the car.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Now while we can argue that having the family car impounded may indeed inconvenience innocent family members, the argument isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite that simple.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Many repeat offenders somehow get access to vehicles anyway, drive on long-suspended licenses and do so with the tacit, or even overt, approval of family members. When we read of drivers who continue to drive even after a dozen DWI convictions, we realize something\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rotten in the state of New Mexico.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0By impounding the offender\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s car, the law is taking away at least one means of wreaking havoc, a tool that in seconds can transform from a means of transportation to a killing machine, as effective as an Uzi.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0By now all variety of solutions have been posited, from longer periods of confinement, to electing judges who mete out stiffer penalties, to massive fines and impoundments, to removal of the many loopholes in the law, to holding liquor establishments responsible for any over-serving, to education of the public.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0All of these have have already been discussed. Yet, the state bumbles along, with few of us able to fathom the immeasurable grief being suffered by the families and extended families of the victims. Let us hope that together we can find ways to prevent such senseless actions. But legislate though we might, we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t breath one puff of air back in to the victims.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Though it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a grossly unfair trade-off, perhaps the deaths of the Gonzales family \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Paul Gonzales, Renee Collins-Gonzales, Alisha Garcia, Selena Gonzales and Jacqueline Gonzales, and serious injuries to the lone survivor, Arissa Garcia \u00e2\u20ac\u201d will provide the impetus for New Mexico finally to get serious about our DWI problem.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0What to do now? As for me, after I rid myself of this suddenly imposed anger and sorrow that have afflicted me for five days, I made a trip to the bank to donate what I could to the Gonzales Memorial Fund as a way of showing that some of us care. It made me feel somewhat better.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0What about you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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