Absolutely! Too many parents claim children as property or meal tickets and not the precious little people they are!

foo foo that is the way it should be, i just which this child had that option too, and i pray for them that they grow stronger from their life expierences and not another statistic of society and their selfish needs

Unless I missed it, I cannot recall the condition of the little girl. Is she critical? Or will she come out of this unscathed other than emotional trauma?

LATIN...I have three children, one a teenager, one in elementary school and one a toddler, and until after having my last baby, I would hardly EVER drink in their presence. My children have never seen my drunk, until recently, and it has only been my teenager who is able to process the truth of what is happening. And I never ever drink if my children are not in the presence of a responsible person who is not drinking. That is just the way it should be. Period. Sure, I like my cocktails, but my children come before that definately!

yeah it is horribly sad. i have two small children and i don't even drink barely ever and if i do it is a few beers because i have a fear that if i get drunk and something happens to my children i won't be able to help them or if there is a bad emergency i wont be there and i wish more people would think of that before they do start drinking crazy. that poor baby did not even have a choice to be in that car and for the mother and grandmother what they both have done to that child is selfish. i get that the grandmother has passed but that was self inflicted by poor decisions

Latin..true. And seriously, this little girl is going to have some serious issues where alcohol is concerned. I believe that her opinions on it are going to be to the extreme, either they be for it or against it. That is the sad thing about these types of tragedies. Young children unable to process the depth of what happens, form their own stories in their minds, and tend to incorparate them into their lives without even knowing. And if she doesn't have the support of a loving family to encourage her with counseling, this is exactly what will happen to her, and the cycle continues. So sad.

still i think it should always be reminded for any other future grama who thinks it is okay to get behind the wheel.

latin.... Grandma did pay for the rest of her life - she killed herself with her stupidity

i am sorry for the grandchild whose grandmother did not have enough common sense not to endanger her families life with her thoughtless acts, i believe she deserves for the rest of her life to be reminded of this act, she should never be left to forget about it, it a selfish thing to do, to an innocent child or to any innocent person for that matter. and to anyone who gets offended to this tough i am offended that you think it is okay

'more than 150 drunken-driving arrests by sheriff’s deputies from the past seven months'

the SCARY part....i wonder what percantage of actual drunk drivers on the road were arrrested?? 75%?? 50%?? 10%?? regardless its a scary scary number...

Oh Nikki...my dear, as unfortuneate as it is, sometimes, the truth hurts and needs to be dealt with. I am quite certain innocent victims' families are tired of hearing about how the drunk driver didn't mean to kill their loved ones as well... The reality of it all is, no, none of this is premeditated, and I feel equally sorry for the victims and the offenders....both are victims of curcumstance. Yes, curcumstances that could and should be prevented, but until the ill get help for their illnesses, these things will continue to happen...a drunk never thinks they are drunk. They feel medicated.

I guess, Tuesday it is.....silly statistics. Your drunk, your gonna get caught whether it be by the cops or the tree that mysteriously gets in front of you.

hannah - I never thought I would say this about one of your posts but...well said.

great article. 'nectar of the gods'. rite. i dont even need to explain the hypocrisy. id venture to guess there have been a fraction of marijuana related arrests in the same time frame and most...if not all...would be for possession/delivery of a controlled substance. a 'crime' with no victim. yet we keep THE UNITED STATES NUMBER ONE CASH CROP untaxed...unregulated...and illegal. uhhhh

It's better to go the store and buy a 12 pack, go home and watch your favorite sport or movie. It would save you the embarrasment of a fine and losing points on your drivers license. And just think how many 12 packs you buy could on one drunk driving charge.

nikkiz - I'm pretty sure no one here gives a crap that you're offended. We're discussing a real social problem here (a problem that your friend's mother was directly a part of, I might add) and if you don't like it, feel free to click that little red X in the top right-hand side of your screen and move on.

nik: This is talked about because it is news. It is a tragedy for those that know the families involved but that doesn't negate the results of drunk driving. I feel for the grandaughter and the ones in the other vehicle. If we don't talk about it will the carnage on the roads stop or the victims be healed?

i am a friend of that grandmothers daughter and i really find it offensive for them that this is still being talked about! why does everyone have to refer to that accident it was tragic enough for their families can we please not bring it up anymore im am sure the family would greatly appreciate it!

localboy - are you kidding me? Does it really matter to you if the drunk drivers are seasoned alcoholics or amateurs? What exactly is your point?

How 'bout a designated drunk route?
Then the sober ones can stay out of their way.

snerdly - I am sure most of these arrests are not chronic alcoholics to begin with. They are amatuers out being stupid.

Let's steer the drunks to smaller county roads where there is even less room for error. I feel much safer now....

http://www.bma-wellness.com/aboutus/Garr...
here is a link that will give a reason why alcoholics don't think they are doing anything wrong to begin with.

localboy - What you probably didn't use your cerebal cortex to figure out is that many chronic alcoholics have a pretty high tolerance to alcohol and for the most part aren't sloppy, slurring their speech, falling down drunks. I've worked with people such as this who have admitted that they use alternate roads after a night of partying so as to decrease their chance of getting pulled over... so, yeah... WOW, huh?

Okay I am in no way defending drunk drivers. But I think everyone on this post should read The Shack. It is a great book to help you grieve and cope with the feeling of losing your loved one and forgiving the person who took your loved one away. If everyone found the love this character did this world could be a much better place.
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When my friends and I go out drinking, there is ALWAYS a sober driver, sometimes more than one. And a few of us quite drinking after two or three drinks and drink soda for the rest of the night, just in case. I would never allow one of my friends to drive drunk or would I allow myslef to. If I am drinking, I give up my keys.

Arrests? Big deal! They pay a fine and go on their merry way. What does that do? Even on the 5,6,7,8 time. When the headline says 'Drunk drivers arrested AND sent to prison' then I'll feel like something is being done to correct this awful problem WI has with drunks out on the road. As for now, concerning this story, the headline should read, 'Parking tickets being handed out'!! Big Deal!!

Your right, I thought this also about the article. Too bad criminals (yes most of these drunks are frequent flyers), spend too much time and energy trying to get around the system. If they gave half of that effort towards getting away from alcohol (or any other vice), they would be great people. But they won't and the drunk drivers are just going to keep making the roads dangerous
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I am glad the patrol works so hard to stop them. You just don't know how many lives were saved, because the intoxicated person was stopped first.

snerdley - I was actually thinking the exact same thing you were reading this article.
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For anyone naive enough to think that drunks don't pay attention to where the patrols are any given day/week, you're wrong. Drunk people have a very sensitive filter for this kind of stuff and I guarantee you 100% they know where to drive and where not to drive to avoid being pulled over. Smart enough to do the research yet not smart enough to just not drink and drive. I know, I know - the irony is not lost on me. But it is very true. I hear them talk at the bar all the time: "Hey Johnny take it easy, drive safe - hey I heard the cops are all over 51 nowadays so you be sure to take some backroads or the interstate so you don't get popped."
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Drunks don't want to get caught, so they use any means necessary to that end, of course except for not actually drinking. That's the last line of defense on their list of solutions. Telling a drunk person they shouldn't drink and drive because it's not safe is like telling a person who smokes not to smoke because they might get lung cancer. Really? Thank you, Captain Obvious. Everyone knows this but they go to the bars specifically to drink. It then becomes somewhat of a game to be able to get home after the fact. And they almost never ask for a ride home or catch a cab because 1) they don't believe they are that drunk and/or 2) they don't want the inconvenience of having to find a ride back the next morning to get their car.
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I've been around drunks my whole life. It's a completely unique social "family" that most people don't understand.

I posted a comment on the article of that crash about the grandmother was a drunk and she was most likely drunk and the gazette removed it. I wonder if this one will make it.

Sorry, but I do not feel much sympathy for the drunk driver. Everyone knows not to drink and drive. If they decided that they can handle it and know it's against the law, then they should take full responsibility for their own actions. That goes for the people that are hooked on drugs also. It's not like they did not know ahead of time that drugs and alcohol are addicting.

i got a feeling the drunks are in the bars and don't read these posts anyway. we are ranting to each other and hopefully our politicians that might make a difference. what i would like to see is some politicians weighing in on these posts with their input on solving the problems created by drunk driving and alcohol in general. guess what? i won't hold my breath. it would be too obvious a way for the people we vote into office to figure out what is going on.

snerdley - did you use your cerebral cortex thinking that comment up? If drunks were concerned about detection, they wouldn't be driving and would be asking for a ride home. Wow.

phlurky: Amen! To all the drunks who say "I only had a few" before they drive: you are wasting lives and resources! That's my friends and family next to you on the road, my tax dollars trying to clean up the road.

I'm just glad that lawmakers have resisted the call to set up soberity checkpoints. We all know that 51 would be a key target for something like that. The state and corresponding counties need to subsidize their income during these difficult economic times, so unfortunately it's probably not too far away.

Snerdley-chances are a drunk is going to go home the best way he know's how, he's not going to pick up his copy of the gazette to determine that.

Gee, without this map I never would have possibly guessed that deputies spend more time on main roads where the traffic is than on remote deserted roads. I mean, c'mon, that's pretty obvious. And how many bars are off main highways? Not many. Finally, how many drunks are capable of strategizing that well?
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The map actually tells you nothing of your chances of getting caught because there is no data on traffic or patrol volume.

Thanks for giving the drunks all the stats, Gazette. Now, they can drive drunk on alternate roads and avoid detection. Brillant!