My wife used to work with Tramatic Brain Injury patients. More often than not they never recover from it. Very sad situation and my prayers go out to all involved. I have been spared from so many stupid mistakes during my life I find it hard to be to critical of some one else's slip.

 

Ouch...

 

I couldn't have said it better myself...

 

Wow, that is a nasty accident. Skid marks before and after impact can be used to calulate speed, alone with body damage.

Bad decision on someone's part,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

I sincerely hope the women recovers and goes on to lead a productive life. At least no innocent person was killed or injured because of her unthinking actions! I've investigated way to many of these tragedies over the years and they leave me thinking how fleeting life really is..... The driver will pay an extremely heavy price (assuming she surrvies) for what happened.......

 

100 mph = 147 feet peer second. The pontiac never had a chance.

 

I've been hit by two drunks. Totaled out two Z28's. One was my POV and the other was my Police Vehicle.

 

Not necessarily. The accident reconstruction has to take in more factors than the length of the skid marks. If the car went over a rise and lifted that would remove some weight off its wheels and the tires wouldn't have been able to slow the car as much, the pavement could vary in friction capability due to dirt and other debris including all the oil soaked into the pavement that cars have dropped over the years, composition of the pavement, repair materials, etc. The damage to the car that was hit may have been worse due to corrosion in the body which could make it come apart easier. The black box in the Vette may be the best evidence of how fast the car was going.

As far as witnesses saying it was going that fast most of them couldn't tell the difference between 40 mph and 100 mph.

Bill

 

She will find some lawyer that will sue Chevrolet and find some way to make it their fault. A "CASEY ANTHONY" jury will give her several million dollars. She'll buy a ZR1 and have it equipped for her handicap.

 

Just download the data off the "blackbox". You will be surprised all the info you can get.

 

So many times people are left without reminders in situations like this. What I mean is the majority of the time the person under the influence is in such a relaxed state that they end up with the light end of the injuries. They either walk away unscathed or with little injuries.

In this case this woman ended up with the bad end of the injuries and I truly hope she survives (in a positive long healthy life way) so her injuries can serve as a life long reminder of the lapse of judgement she happened to have because in her case I think this reminder will make her a better person. The reminder being a lost limb or scars.

What the hell am I talking about right??

I rarely talk about this, but a forum for some reason is easier than looking a family member in the eye and talking about this. 25 years ago when I was 17, I jumped in the passenger seat of my friends camaro while walking home from a football game not realizing he had been drinking until it was too late. Too late meaning by the time I smelled the alcohol on his breath and witnessed his crazy driving we were already driving way out of control and I was stuck in the car scared to death something bad was about to happen.

My feeling of something bad was about to happen was no where near what I was prepared for. Driving too fast on a country road, we missed a curve outside of my home town and barreled head-on into an old oak tree. Human instinct prior to the impact told me to brace myself by putting my hands on the dash board...... waaay wrong thing to do but in hindsight, it probably saved my life. Prior to passing out (don't know how long after all this occurred I did pass out) all in slow motion of course I witness the bones in my right hand physically breaking and ripping through my skin as we impacted the tree, and I watched a 4" wide x 8-10" piece of the plastic grill or metal from the car penetrate through my left forearm and out the other side so it was left embedded in my arm on both sides. I remember breathing really wasn't easy any longer and I remember being cold... very, very cold. The next thing I know I'm hearing sirens, and saws cutting metal and people yelling, and I'm watching people climbing all over the car and I looked over to ask my friend is he was okay and all I saw was a orangish tarp covering him slumped over the steering wheel and I just remember crying uncontrollably knowing he had a really bad night (tearing up now as I type this - even after 25 years it's like it happened last night).

Time heals (somethings). My right hand was reconstructed and I ended up wearing one of those mechanical hands to support my hand for about 6 months. I had physical therapy for another 6 months learnign how to reuse my hand. My left arm was stitched up, the broken ribs healed after time, but the scars remain on the top of my right hand and left forearm forever. I suppose I could have had skin graphs to have them removed or lightened some but I left them as a reminder of that night.

In some cases, people would say I was the victim or I did nothing wrong. I don't say too much about that but I do look at what happened as a gift in kind of a strange sense. See, I've never drank and driven and I can with 100% confidence say I never will because all I need to do is look at my right hand or my left forearm and it's a very sober reminder of why I don't or won't. I'm one of the lucky ones with a reminder.....a reminder that most people don't have nor will never get.

So again, I am angered by this but I truly feel sorry for this woman. I do hope this woman does pull through and leads a normal life but one with a reminder of this mis-step in her life.

Life is a gift, and people do take that for granted from time to time. Without a reminder like mine people tend to forget or think they are super human or "it will never happen to me".

I'm very critical of accidents involving DUIs, especially the ones where the person driving under the influence gets away clean (meaning no injuries / no reminder) because without the lasting reminder they will never change, and they will most likely drive again under the influence and hurt more people or worse kill themselves..

God Bless all of you, stay safe out there, use your best judgement, but over all remember how sacred life is.

 

It's good to see this has stimulated so much conversation.

That's a very noble stand.

I too have survived many poor choices. That is one reason I'm in the profession I'm in today. I still put myself at risk today but, the key word is "myself". It's one thing to put yourself at risk, it's an entirely different issue when you put others at risk or worse at risk without their informed consent. Do you think you could maintain that noble stand if someones "Stupid mistake" killed or severely injured your family.

There is a significant difference between an innocent mistake and an informed conscious decision to make a poor choice that puts others at risk.

As far as the original post, I honestly hope that it's determined there was some previously unknown medical condition that lead to this accident.

The LEO's around here typically don't make comments to the media about DUI's or excessive speed unless they can back it up.

 

I can not believe all of the apologists for this woman -- this was not a case of an "unfortunate" occurrance that "befell" her.

She made the deliberate choice to put herself in an impaired state, and then drive a more than 1 1/2 ton *weapon* in a manner which demonstrated a total, callous disregard for anyone but herself -- certainly no regard for the *tremendous*, life-changing harm she could do to others.

I'm not advocating it, but it would be merciful if she were not to survive, as living in a brain-damaged state with any signficant awareness has to be be one of the worst of the levels of Hell.

That said, if she does survive in a manner in which she could lead a productive life, then the only "example" I want to see set in this case is the example of her being put away for 15-20 years to contemplate the horror of her actions.

IMO, what she did was nothing short of attempted murder, using her vehicle as the weapon -- the penalty for such deliberate conduct should be just as strong as if she lunged at someone with a knife, or started shooting in a crowded mall. Time to stop listening to defendants and their DUI lawyers saying "oh pity her, she didn't *mean* to do it -- and she feels real bad about it now." B___ S___! Do as other countries have done -- if you want to be serious about reducing DUI's, get serious about enforcing the law.

And for those of you that want to respond with a pious "I hope you're never in such trouble someday!" -- save it. Either I won't be in such trouble because I don't do reckless things like this drunk did, or if I really do something horrific, I should be punished accordingly.

p.s. -- Once this (yet another drunk's) medical insurance is capped out, who do you think gets to pick up the tab -- several thousand times a year in this country?

 

at least jackass of the day award.

 

Makes one understand that high speed is for track days and alcohol for for times when not driving. It all sounds fun to knock back a few and go for a wild ride but.........the price for IT can be totally ruining your life. It really is not even slightly worth the chance. If you are going to drink when you are out with your car, buy one of these and use it! If it saves you from one DUI or one wreck, it will pay for itself 10 or 100 times.

Alcomate AccuCell fuel cell breathalyzer.

I am not lecturing anybody else here, I am lecturing myself!
Pretty sobering post by the OP.

 

 

Looks like her name was Danielle Duffy, and she worked for The Lodi Memorial Hospital Foundation.

 

Yep. I believe someone posted the limit there was 35, which has a closure rate of only 51 feet per second.

If the turn was started with a 500' initial gap (we don't know that data), the Pontiac would have had almost 10 seconds to clear the turn. At 100, the poor driver of the Pontiac would have had less than 3 1/2 seconds.

I imagine the Pontiac driver realized the oncoming vehicle was WELL over the limit just after starting the turn, sadly too late to do anything.

 

...the linked-article in post #58 says she's 53 yrs old....

not exactly the stereotype of a "reckless youth" either (no other inferences intended).
Something just doesn't make sense here. Again, very tragic...

 

Wow, you got all that from what I said?

Can I infer from your protest of my post that you are a supporter of people who speed through intersections while being drunk?

Hyperbole is such a fun game........