Sunday, November 02, 2008
It seems we still haven't learned
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Shanna Flowers is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.
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How many times do we have to be reminded that drinking and driving has consequences?
Yet here we are again, confronted with the chain-reaction devastation of drunken driving.
Richard Slone of Vinton is dead, killed earlier this year as he worked at an Electric Road construction site.
Last week, a judge found Jeffrey Dupree and Tracie Nininger guilty in Slone's death. The Roanoke County man and woman wait to see how much time they will spend in prison.
One life ended, two in tatters and scores of others devastated. All because Nininger and Dupree made the decision to slide behind the wheels of their trucks while under the influence and drive.
Boozing and driving is a dangerous combination. The oft-repeated message can't be overemphasized. (This tragedy also is a cautionary tale for sober drivers: Slow down in construction zones.)
An alcohol-related crash kills someone every 31 minutes and injures someone every two minutes in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Maybe you've tempted fate a few times, pulling safely into the driveway even though you left the bar or a friend's house with a buzz.
Maybe you feel a self-deluding sense of invincibility because you have been caught but got off with a slap on the wrist.
After a night of carousing, no one expects somebody to end up dead.
On Daniel Ammons' birthday last fall, he and five of his friends met at a restaurant to celebrate with drinks, quesadillas and cupcakes.
The night that began as a celebration ended with Ammons losing control of his truck on a narrow country road. His good friend and Roanoke Times' co-worker Nicholas Shockley lay dead in the passenger seat.
Ammons is serving three and a half years for aggravated involuntary manslaughter.
In the case that culminated this week, Nininger began the evening with two glasses of wine each at two restaurants. She arrived at a third spot in downtown Roanoke shortly before 11 p.m., where she spent time with Dupree.
Video taken by a security camera at the bar showed Nininger and Dupree hugging and kissing at the bar before both fell to the floor. They were asked to leave.
Less than 30 minutes later, Slone was dead, after vehicles driven by Nininger and Dupree crashed at the site.
"You think about him and then you realize he's not there anymore," Slone's 17-year-old daughter, Sara, said last week.
Let's not delude ourselves. The decision to drink and drive can have lifelong consequences.
