It seems all those public service announcements have taught Robert Lee Crider, for one, about the perils of drinking and driving. But when it comes to selecting a designated driver, the Texas man could use a few tips.
In the early morning hours of a recent Saturday, an inebriated Crider, 35, handed the keys to his 11-year-old son, who, though sober, could hardly see over the steering wheel. The boy’s erratic driving — he was swerving and speeding — caught the eye of a state trooper, who pulled him over outside the West Texas town of Big Spring.
Crider was arrested on charges of child endangerment, public intoxication and having an open container of alcohol in his car, said Sgt. Jason Hester of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Crider had picked up his son, who lives with Crider’s ex-wife in the Panhandle city of Lubbock, as part of a custody arrangement. On the road to Crider’s central Texas home nearly 350 miles away, Crider and a friend who tagged along put back several beers, Hester said. At Big Spring, about 130 miles into the trip, the two adults turned to the boy when they decided they were too drunk to drive, Hester said.
Police took the shaken boy to the police station, where they gave him a sandwich and waited for his mother to pick him up. Crider would have been wise to check the group into one of the three hotels they passed outside Big Spring, Hester said.
"If it’s that bad for you … you obviously don’t need to be driving, and neither does a child," he said.
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