I just read a story in the local paper that a 24 year old man killed a 40 year old man because the 24 year old was driving the wrong way on interstate Route 95 in Providence, RI. Although there is no evidence yet as to intoxication or drug use, and everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, the facts of this case suggest that intoxication or drug use was indeed a factor.
The accident occurred at 2:00 am on the Sunday morning following St. Patrick’s Day. As I finished the short article, I wondered what it will take. What will it take to convince children not to drink and drive, not to drive distracted, not to speed or drive recklessly?
Moments ago, following his arraignment, the young man was denied bail and will now have to sit at the Adult Correctional Institution (“ACI”) until a bail hearing. While he is there, the family of the man he killed will be calling relatives, contacting their church and funeral home and dealing with endless arrangements and issues that arise in an untimely tragedy such as this.
This young man is at the very beginning of a long arduous road ahead. His family will have to scrape together money to hire a lawyer and pay for bail. His parents who probably thought they were done with the constant concerns and issues that come with raising a child now have to accept and process the fact that their son is responsible for someone’s death. As the young man sits in his cell at the ACI, he is left to ponder, how did I get here? What did I do? I am the reason that another person is dead. Inevitably he will wish that he could go back in time and do something differently, that he would not have engaged in the conduct that led him to the place where he now sits. The owners of the establishment where this young man may have been served too much alcohol will also come to wish that they too had done something differently. When the criminal process is over, after he serves a substantial jail sentence, he will remain with a permanent criminal record that will permeate and affect every facet of his life. Still it will be far better than the death sentence he imposed upon his victim.
Rhode Island law allows for a minimum recovery of $250,000.00 for a wrongful death such as this. To the family of the man killed, this amount of money is not enough. The money is meaningless. No amount of money is ever enough. They, like thousands of other victims’ relatives, want their brother, son, husband, or father back, alive and well, the way they were the day before the tragedy.
So for those of you reading this blog, who drink and drive, speed, drive recklessly or text and e-mail while driving, I urge you to ask yourself, what will it take for you to stop? My hope is that this article will at least give you pause and make you re-consider the next time you contemplate such irresponsible behavior.
