heartbreaking beyond belief I don't know how many of you…

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Posted by: garyfong1 Original: 6/2/2008 6:30 AM Views: 1562 Comments: 24 eProps: 24 Read Comments Post a Comment Back to Your Xanga Site

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2 eProps from: YoungKingOurs esquirephoto jacksonwholephoto PaulEaton chunkielove dualsub2006 lightinspiration fjblau shotshot Carlos_Hernandez plvelez jessicahughesdotcom 0 eProps from: melisma2

Monday, June 02, 2008

heartbreaking beyond belief

I don't know how many of you watch Oprah, but the missus had this one on Tivo and she made me watch it.

My friend Dan lost his son (and best friend) to a freak accident where a shipping truck flipped right on top of his car on the freeway. I remember wondering how Dan was going to survive with all of this pain.

The thing that makes me so furious is that the drunk driver, 24 year old Martin Heidgen, had at least 14 drinks before he got on the freeway speeding in the wrong direction.

This story is so tragic, I won't do it justice. I'll let you read it (mature audiences only)

What do you folks think of people who drive drunk? What should the punishment be? Please comment below!

Posted 6/2/2008 6:30 AM - 1562 Views - 24 eProps - 24 comments

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24 Comments

Being a college student at a relatively well-regarded university, you'd think the students would at least have a DD for such occasions. Although it's true that most people I know and see don't drive under the influence and setup a DD before going out, the amount of people still driving under the influence is ridiculous.

I'm not going to bash drinking or partying--I just don't think drunk driving is something that should be taken lightly. It's a serious hazard to yourself, not to mention an even more serious hazard to OTHER people on the road.

Posted 6/2/2008 8:27 AM by YoungKingOurs - - reply

Being a survivour of a drunken guardian growing up, I am a FIRM believer that people should be jailed for driving drunk. P E R I O D.

I am also a regular & avid motorcycle rider in Southern California (more now because of driving a car is incredibly expensive now) and we have enough to deal with (e.g; people that don't know how to use turning indicators, people text messaging while driving and my favourite - the middle-aged housewife in a SUV distracted with multiple kids in the car, putting on makeup, talking on the phone & drinking a cup of coffee all the while being a red light runner! Seen it several times & it's MUCH WORSE during the holidays!) while getting from point A to B.

Adding the SCUMBAGS that drive while under the influence of booze or drugs - just makes it horrible whether you're in a car or on a motorcycle. Therefore, yes - they should be jailed & held accountable for their lack of respect for others, let alone themselves.

Last year I was almost on a jury for someone that had a 1.2 blood level & was busted while driving. I SOOOOO wanted to be on that one to have him jailed, but because of my very strong beliefs, I was dismissed.

Gary, not to totally intentionally hijack your thread/post, but what are your thoughts on the parents that intentionally cause their children to be overweight? Do you think that parents should be held for their criminal actions teaching their children absolutely piss-poor eating habits, thus causing them to become the mortally overweight children that they are with Type A, B, C, etc. diabetes? Since parents are no longer allowed to smoke in a car with minors & can be busted for force-feeding their children second-hand smoke into their bodies, shouldn't parents have the same accountability for their crimes causing their children to have shorter life spans.

If someone wants to be an "oompah-loompah" / "Samsclubian" / "Costcodian" - thats their choice. But they should be held accountable for teaching their children how to be that as well.

Over the years I have been witness to seeing children become more & more obese in elementary schools. Probably because I speak at them & my wife is also a 5th grade teacher. But when I see a 5th grader than weighs in upwards of 350 - 400 lbs & has so many health problems because of their nutritional habits, I just want to scream & smack the parent upside the head with my boot.

Anyhew, that's my Monday rant, thanks for listening.

Cheers!

David Esquire
Esquire Photography
www.esquirephotography.com

Posted 6/2/2008 9:45 AM by esquirephoto - - reply

The following would come close to being enough for those that drive drunk and take another's life.

Necklacing (sometimes metonymically called Necklace) refers to the practice of summary execution carried out by forcing a rubber tire, filled with gasoline, around a victim's chest and arms, and setting it on fire.

Posted 6/2/2008 11:03 AM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

@jacksonwholephoto - Very Nice Indeed!

David Esquire
Esquire Photography
www.esquirephotography.com

Posted 6/2/2008 11:09 AM by esquirephoto - - reply

10 years ago I lost my best friend to drunk driving. I have no tolerance for those that do and would love to be a juror on those cases. A not so publicised thing is AAA's safe tow program. If you have been drinking you can get a free tow home within about 16miles from AAA by calling 1800-safetow. I'm not sure if they still have this program but at least someone is doing something about getting them off our roads.

Posted 6/2/2008 12:03 PM by PaulEaton - - reply

It really depends on a case-by-case basis what the punishment should be.

Jennifer makes a great point in the article. Regardless of whatever crazy regulations we come up with to confine and compel people to do the right thing, the most important thing is that people need to inherently know what their actions have repercussions. If we raised a 24-year-old guy who thinks that having 14 drinks and then driving ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD is OK, then somehow we have failed as a society.

Posted 6/2/2008 12:14 PM by chunkielove

- - reply

Chunkielove,

I don't thing it's we that have failed as a society, because when are people going to take responsibility for their behavior and bad decisions? I have no pity (as you can tell from my previous post) for people that kill other people because they were too drunk/stupid/irresponsible to realize that their actions, whether they be drunk driving or not, could cause the death of an innocent bystander/driver. The Hulk Hogan fiasco is a great example. Hogan and his family have spoken out about the sentence his son received as being too harsh. Give me a break - his son's drunk driving resulted in the passenger, his best friend no less, ending up in a vegetative state. One of the only things I agree with when it comes to the bible is - an eye for an eye.

Posted 6/2/2008 12:37 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

@jacksonwholephoto -

What a douche.

First it's drunken killers, then who? Are you going to start lighting Christians on fire?

I would not want the man that killed my best friend in a drunk driving crash in 1998 burned alive with gasoline. I speak to his mother to this day at least once a month. I can tell you from my conversations with her that she would not want that drunk driver burned alive with gasoline. Kevin was her only child and she found it in her heart to forgive the man that did it.

In a previous life I was a firefighter. The most grotesque and disgusting thing that I have ever witnessed was a man burn alive in a car accident that had nothing to do with alcohol. He was trapped and the car didn't go up until we were just pulling up. We had no foam, only 500 gallons of water and some fire extinguishers.

The poor bastard didn't die in the car. Oh no, it was much worse than that. He lived screaming, begging us to shoot him, all the way to the hospital where he died about 3 hours later. The smell in the ambulance was of burnt blood and flesh. It is a smell that I can recall to this day nearly 18 years later.

Be careful what you throw out as your idea of justice. There are those that have lost friends and family to fire that would take exception to your arrogant attempt to prove that you have something hanging between your legs at the expense of their tragedy.

You are no more civilized than a drunk driver that gets behind the wheel. In fact, you are worse. The drunk driver doesn't actually intend to cause harm or death to someone. You savor the thought of it. You are a nasty, heartless little person.

Posted 6/2/2008 1:35 PM by dualsub2006 - - reply

They should be locked up. A person should have enough common sense to know that anything over 1 drink is enough to put you over the limit and if you are mature enough to drink then be mature enough to take the punishment..especially for taking a life..taking their license away doesn't keep them off the road..they should be locked up for a few months and if they cause a death then they should be sentenced for manslaughter..that may make them think twice before drinking again...they should never get off free of charge.

Posted 6/2/2008 1:40 PM by lightinspiration - - reply

Dualsub2006 - your fat head would accomodate a necklace perfectly. nah, a necklacing would be too quick for someone like you.

Posted 6/2/2008 1:49 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

and dualcrud, while you directed your comment at me, notice that i do have support on this board. or can you read? probably not.

Posted 6/2/2008 1:53 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

@jacksonwholephoto -

Hitler had supporters too.

Posted 6/2/2008 2:00 PM by dualsub2006 - - reply

yup, he sure did. and it's too bad one of them didn't put a bullet in his head to stop him. i assume we can agree on at least that much.

Posted 6/2/2008 2:45 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

Yikes - this conversation went south quickly. I lost my best friend since childhood to a drunk driver a few years ago. She was hit by the manager of a very popular bar here in town who was on his way home from the bar's Christmas party. At 8:00 in the morning, his blood alcohol was .27 when he accelerated through an intersection and t-boned my friend's car. She died instantly. While her family stood in open court and forgave him for his actions, and asked the judge not to give him the maximum sentence because of his age (he was just days shy of his 29th birthday), they could not ask for an imposition of no prison sentence because there simply have to be consequences to these actions.

He'll be 41 when he's first eligible to leave prison. Good call, judge.

Her family travels from Michigan annually to visit him in prison, as they have formed a good relationship with him and his family through this tragedy.

For his part, he deeply regrets his choices, and he has pledged to leave prison one mission to raise awareness about drunk driving in the food and beverage industry.

Posted 6/2/2008 3:43 PM by melisma2 - - reply

at the very least he should have done life with no chance whatsoever for parole.

Posted 6/2/2008 3:56 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

scum bag

Posted 6/2/2008 4:06 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

Your gruesome and barbaric revenge fantasy is the product of a mind that has no idea what it is actually like to either witness or be the recipient of anything even remotely resembling what these people went through.

Sick and wrong.

Posted 6/2/2008 4:57 PM by fjblau - - reply

fiblau -

you obviously don't know the first thing about me, nor are you familiar with my background and the things i've done and witnessed in my life.

Posted 6/2/2008 5:00 PM by jacksonwholephoto - - reply

@jacksonwholephoto -

Where did all of your support on this "board" go? Seems like you are all alone on this one little man.

You have seen nothing of the torture that you wished on drunken drivers. Nothing. All I got to say about that.

Posted 6/2/2008 6:15 PM by dualsub2006 - - reply

durrrrrka durrrrrr.....

Posted 6/2/2008 8:46 PM by shotshot - - reply

This horrifying story happened in my backyard on my sister's own wedding day. I don't think I'll ever forget sweet Katie and the tragedy of their family. Thanks for sharing the story

Posted 6/2/2008 9:01 PM by erink06 - - reply

Sad, sad, sad. We lost a family member to a drunk driver back in 2004.

The drunk was a 19 yr. old Marine who did less than a year of time. He got off with a slap on the wrist.

Posted 6/4/2008 11:34 AM by Carlos_Hernandez - - reply

Gary,

Thank you for sharing this story. I have a loved one who recently graduated from rehab. Thankfully, he never caused an accident. I read him the story of this family's tragedy to drive home the point of how much drunk driving hurts families. My prayers are with the family because I am sure that even after the passing of the years, they are hurting.

Pamela

Posted 6/4/2008 8:47 PM by plvelez - - reply

What a horrible and tragic story. :( The drama on here is killing me.
I definitely think that most drunk drivers do not get what they deserve. There should be SERIOUS actions taken THE FIRST TIME. Take away their license for 5 years. Who would want to take that chance? Yeah...I know the answer..a drunk...maybe one day they will have breathelizers (sp?) on all vehicles. If you don't pass, your car won't start. I'm all for it if it will save lives.

Posted 6/10/2008 6:32 PM by jessicahughesdotcom - - reply

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