While different evils crop up, and come and go in cycles (meth, huffing, cocaine/crack, heroin, LSD/ecstasy, prescription drug abuse/accidental overdose), alcohol remains public enemy No. 1. No other drug kills so many innocent people.
No other drug presents such a disconnect for Americans, in all segments of society. Everyone over age 3 can tell you “don’t drink and drive” and yet we know that’s exactly what people with a drinking problem will do. Over and over again.
The crash on Sunday on Highway 9 that killed four people — Melissa Agerup, 48, Bradley Agerup, 54, Hilda Woods, 62, and Thomas Woods, 57 — nightmarishly illustrates our societal alcohol problem.
The accused driver, Matthew C. McDonald, 27, of Snohomish, allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .123 two hours after the crash — 1.5 times the legal limit. He allegedly told police he drank eight beers before getting behind the wheel; a passenger told police he asked McDonald to slow down before the collision.
(For those who think the roads are only dangerous after the bars close, please note that problem drinkers who have no qualms about driving will do so at any hour. Don’t forget that it was just Friday morning that a suspected drunken driver, with his family in the vehicle, rear-ended a Washington State Patrol trooper who had pulled his car over on I-5.)
Then we learn that the Snohomish County medical examiner investigator called to the fatal scene Sunday was arrested and cited for DUI after a trooper smelled alcohol on his breath.
As Carolyn Sanden, deputy director of the medical examiner’s office said, “this is shocking and unacceptable.” Sadly, not that shocking. Just illustrative of how educated people who should know better are just as susceptible (perhaps more so) as anyone else when it comes to fooling themselves that they can “handle” or “control” their drinking (and their driving, not to mention their job.)
Then we learn that crash victim Bradley Agerup, a physical education teacher and athletic trainer at Mariner High School, gave his students a message before they left for the Thanksgiving holiday: Don’t drink and drive.
And the heartbreaking circle is complete.
Since “don’t drink and drive” falls on the deaf ears of the problem drinker, we urge all family members, friends and/or passengers to speak up loudly and take action when someone shouldn’t drive. Since bartenders who over-serve patrons can face criminal charges, perhaps prosecuting those who knowingly let people drive drunk is a good idea. (The only defense: you refused to get in the car with them and immediately called police.)
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