Drunk Driving. Not Acceptable!

How many of you know someone who thinks they're so macho that after a few drinks, they say they are ok to drive home? Whether it's at a party, or a club or whatever. I'm sure all of us know at least 1 person in our lives who did or does that at least once a week. Or maybe we all did that once and that was it. Never again.

Unfortunately, sometimes that one time could be the last time for the rest of your life.

There have been many sad stories about drinking and driving accidents, but this one hit close to home. This family is a relative of a friend of mine who I went to school with. She has lost her uncle and her 3 cousins from a drunk driver.

Neville-Lake tragedy

On September 27 just after 4pm, the Neville-Lake family was driving from King City to Brampton when their van was T-boned by a SUV driven by an intoxicated driver, Marco Muzzo. Muzzo was coming back from his stag party.

The van's driver, Gary Neville was killed instantly. His grandson, Daniel (9 years old) died later in hospital. His other grandson and granddaughter, Harry (5) and Millie (2) died shortly after midnight at the Hospital for Sick Kids. The children's grandmother and great-grandmother were transported to hospital with serious injuries but are recovering.

The parents of the 3 children are devastated. They only found out about the accident when the mother, Jennifer, turned on the TV and saw the accident scene. Her father (Gary) was already an hour late in dropping off her kids. Jennifer had called her parents' cell phone but no one was picking up. That's when she turned on the TV and recognized her van.

While in hospital, Harry and Millie were unresponsive. The only thing keeping their little hearts beating and them breathing were the ICU machines. The doctors and nurses had put their beds together, so the parents could lay there and say goodbye. Just after midnight, both children succumbed to their injuries. They passed away holding hands, with their parents beside them.

This is the worst nightmare for any parent to experience.

One intoxicated driver has taken the lives of 3 children and 1 adult.

Muzzo comes from a very wealthy family, with an estate worth over $1.1 billion. I have a feeling that justice will NOT be fair because of the wealth. Because we can see that those who are super wealthy can get away with anything. He has expressed remorse on what he did, but has not said much in terms of whether he will plead guilty or not guilty for driving under the influence.

He has had 7 previous driving convictions, ranging from talking on a cellphone while driving to speeding. Yet he is still driving. Those are not criminal convictions, but depending what the moving violation tickets are, all he has to do is pay them. And of course his insurance would go up. But as part of a billionaire family, who cares? Sure, your insurance rate will be a lot higher than the rest of your friends, but hey your inheritance can pay for it.

Muzzo is facing 18 charges including 4 counts of impaired driving causing death.

I see two issues with this case. One is about how wealth can be a huge influence, and the second is how our law still does not see drinking and driving as a serious offence. So the final conviction will not be a 25 year sentence to life imprisonment.

Here is a second example.

Wijeratnes family shattered

On August 5, 2012, the Wijeratnes family of 3 was driving back from Florida to Toronto when a car was speeding down the wrong way on Highway 427, driven by Sabastian Prosa. Prosa's car slammed head on with the Wijeratnes' car. Jayanatha and his daughter Eleesha were killed. Antonette was hospitalized and recovered. Prosa had been out drinking that night and was found to be intoxicated.

His conviction? 5 years in prison and 8 years banned from driving. The verdict was reached today.

Many people would read this and think what the hell is wrong with our law and society today. Even us citizens, we don't know what the hell is wrong with our own law.

We have MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). We have RIDE spot checks and programs. We have constant messages and ads everywhere saying to take a taxi, call a friend or take the transit when we drink. To drink responsibly and be responsible. Yet people still drink and drive and shatter families. Why is that?

In the end, it's all about the law and the convictions. If the law for drinking and driving was as serious as murder, I don't think people would try to attempt to play with the law. People see the drinking and driving law as a slap on the wrist, because it really is just a slap on the wrist.

Yes people still murder people everyday. Sometimes it's a harsh penalty, and sometimes it's not. But it doesn't make it right to murder in the first place. That's why there is a law; to have some order in society. If there was no order, it would result in chaos.

People may say, well murderers have the intent to murder others. But drunk drivers only have the intent to drive home alive, not kill people. Sure, but if you have the intent to kill someone, that's first degree. If you have the intent to drive home intoxicated but cut someone's life short by accident along the way, that's manslaughter in the form of "impaired driving causing death" category. Either way, it's still a criminal offence. It's just one carries a maximum of life imprisonment, and the other is 14 years.

We see the consequences of drinking and driving and how it could shatter many lives. Yet people do it on a daily or weekly basis. Because we think we are above the law. We are macho enough to defeat alcohol and still force ourselves to drive. We want to prove to others that we can tolerate alcohol. That it's not a drug.

Please. A liquid, powder or pill that can alter your state of mind and judgement is considered a drug. Alcohol is a drug, whether you accept it or not.

So before you get into your vehicle after a wild night of partying and drinking, think about the lives you could cut short if you lost control. A vehicle becomes a weapon and can ultimately kill someone. Who cares if you have to pay extra for a parking ticket overnight, or if your car got towed. Those are all material things. Lives cannot be bought or replaced. If you can't pay for it, then you shouldn't even be partying in the first place. If you can pay for a night of drinking alcohol, you can pay for a parking ticket and you can pay for a taxi home.

The two mothers above will never get back their spouses or kids/grandkids ever again. Because of the irresponsible actions from two people who decided driving drunk was a good idea. Of the stories I've read, it seems that 98% of drunk drivers escape injuries and walk out fine from the accidents they caused, while they shatter other people's lives.

So yes, a harsher penalty and a change in drunk driving laws need to be done. Because right now, drunk drivers are walking free from their selfish acts.