Crash Site Due Sunday 7/29

After completing the program Crash Site and listening, watching and answering all the questions, clips, clues and useful information, I realized that in the scenario given, I was the passenger. The scenario was that there was a girl driving, a girl in the front passenger seat, and a girl in the rear seat. The driver was impaired, and unbelted. As they were driving along, they got into a crash and hit a bicyclist. The two teenaged girls in front were not buckled, and as a result, were thrown from the vehicle. Both survived. As for the passenger in the back, she didn’t get so fortunate. The crash happened on the corner of Elm and Blake Street.
With me being the passenger, I should have prevented it by not letting my drunk, teenage friend drive. I also should have been wearing my seatbelt. The people who spoke in the case (the sister and the friend) both said that I should have been smarter, and that I was dumb. Well what about the other girls? They made the same decision I did, I was just the most fortunate. Lucky for me. But I also have to live with it all. The guilt, the death, the driver getting all the criminal charges and not me. You would think I would be kind of relieved, but in real life if I was the passenger, I wouldn’t be able to take it. I only came out of it with some minor head injuries causing slight memory loss but I was completely stable and functional.
So what everyone has to remember is that driving impaired effects everyone. Be smart and don’t drive while impaired. Don’t drive drunk, under the influence of drugs, or even when you are tired. Driving on its own is a great risk, people definitely don’t need to add to it all.
As for all the information that was discussed with each person, well, it was a lot. And I learned a lot. Here is all about each of them.
First, I listened to the college student at the highschool. He goes around talking to highschool students about drinking and driving and talks about his life experience of losing friends of his own. The first poster I looked at was the one that recommends different ways of preventing someone from drinking and driving. They were:
1) Asking for the drivers keys- Calmly, so they don’t think you are pressuring them.
2) Getting someone else to drive- Say something like, "You’ve been drinking, let me drive you home." Also say this calmly, so they don’t think you’re pressuring them.
3) Delay the driver, ask them to hang out a little longer, to get to see people longer and give the alcohol time to wear off.
4) You’ll drive them home, they look beat- Say that you will drive home because they look beat, or tired. This way, it’s not about being too drunk and they won’t get so irritated and won’t think you’re crushing them. (Especially guys)
5) Never just let an intoxicated person drive themself anywhere.
The next thing he went over was Sensation seeking. This can be positive or negative and with drinking, it can be very bad. It is the number one personality trait drunk teenagers have. The college student tells us about some healthy thrill choices. Like trying new foods, mountain biking, boxing, exploring, roller coasters, or even skydiving.
He takes us through the point of view and emotional impact of an impaired driver, a victim, and a victims parents. The impaired driver hit another car causing, at first, severe injuries to both an elderly man, and a woman that were in the other car. The victimized couple were taken to the hospital where the wife died. The impaired driver was convicted of negligent homicide. In another video, a victim was speaking. The victim was a 16-year-old girl who was driving to a friends birthday party that was about 10 miles away from her house when an impaired driver came around a corner to short and caused a driver-to-driver collision. The girls legs were pinched under the folded in front of the car. There were lacerations on her knee, one knee was broken her hip was popped out, her wrist was broken, and she had some broken ribs. Sara, the victim, is still able to walk but suffers minor problems. She has to live with the pain, physical and emotional. The last people were the parents of a victim. Their daughter was killed in a collision caused by an impaired driver. They suffered no physical pain but they have to go through everyday remembering the loss of their daughter. All they can do is wonder about the day and think to themselves about how they might still have her if people weren’t so stupid as to drink and drive. One statistic to remember is that for every teen killed in a motor vehicle collision, 100 others suffer non-fatal injuries.

The Second person I went to was the detective at the police department. He was very helpful in helping me to recognize impaired drivers and also gave me multiple very useful facts and statistics. These include the fact that crashes are twice as likely when teenaged drivers have teenaged passengers, and if you have a blood alcohol level of .01 to .02 you can be arrested for a DUI. He also informed me that in order to get federal money, states are required to have zero tolerance laws for underage drinkers.
As I've mentioned, the detective helped me to recognize impaired drivers. I also learned statistics on the as well. Such things include the chances of an impaired drivers in percentages at the actions they are performing.
35% -- Turning abruptly
45% -- Drifting
55% -- Swerving
65% -- Making wide turns
The detective also went over the process of getting pulled over and arrested. Here are the steps:
1) They must have a responsible reason to pull you over. Like expired plates, weaving, or a cracked windsheild.
2) They can make you take a Field Sobriety Test is they smell or suspect alcohol. You also have to show them your license and registration.
3) If they feel the need to arrest you they will read you the Miranda Rights and handcuff you.
4) You are now taken to the station.
5) Next is the breathalyzer. They test for BAC (Blood Alcohol Content)
6) You can now pay bail, get held for post bail, or released on own recognizance.
7) Upon release you will get a court date, arraignment, and be proven guilty of not guilty.

The third person a went to was the doctor. He covered head injuries, the effects of alcohol and marijuana, and seatbelt usage. He also had a couple of extra facts and statistics. These include the fact that the younger the driver is, the greater the risk is (which I don't neccesarily agree with).
The doctor discussed that even with 10mph crashes, head injuries could be serious enough to cause brain damage. I learned that there are three different ways for head injuroes to occur. One is that the car hits an object, two, the head hits an object, and three, the brain hits the inside of the skull. The brain is almost like a Jello material that is surrended by a thick fluid and like a thin rubber tube almost. So when your head gets hit hard enough. it can cause serious problems. For example, when you hit your head hard enough, it can cause swelling and bleeding of blood vessells. This creates pressure which then causes lack of concentration, lack of memory, loss of smell or taste, difficulty with motor skills, and even mood swings. So do you think driving while impaired and creating a huge risk for all of this is worth it? I think not.
Next, he discussed the effects of alcohol and marijuana. Drinking causes slowed messages to the brain, slurred speech, blurred vision, and poor judgement.In the brain, the Medulla controls your breathing and other vital nessecities you need and with drinking, the alcohol can effect that and cause brain damage or even death. The Hippocampus controls your memory, with alcohol it causes you to have memory blackouts so you can't remember when happened if something bad happens and you need to tell people important information. The Frontal Lobe controls your decision making and with alcohol, it causes you to make bad decisions. The effects of marijuana are pretty similar. With marijuana, it effects perceptions so you might tend to misjudge speed, braking, and maybe even your position on the road. Once again, it's bad for you and it's definitely not worth it to drink and do drugs. Especially when your driving and going to be driving. Be smart, don't make stupid choices and regret it in the end when you finally become sober the next morning and see yourself on the news as a suspect of a hit-and-run a mile down the road from where ever you happened to be partying that night before.
He also gave me a couple of facts about seatbelts. These include that 80% ofteens in collisions weren't wearing their seatbelts, and the use of seat belts reduces the death risk in collisions by a remarkable 60%. So take those extra 5 seconds and buckle up! It's worth it.

The fourth person I went to was the lawyer at the law office. She went over the background, the defense, and the prosecution of a case that involved an impaired driver and had me decide what I thought the verdict should be. After hearing the victims statements, my verdict was to pass it with invuluntary manslaughter. At first I was thinking that because it's not like she killed that person on purpose. She just run them down and hit them because of anger. So why should she be charged with murdering them? Well, it was her fault and it was murder, it wasn't invuluntary. She made the choice to drink and drive. She made the choice to take that risk. The death of that person was her fault. Melissa Marvin was found guilty on all accounts. She now has up to 60 years in prison. Ring a bell? Don't drink and drive!
The lawyer also went over the financial costs of one person who got a DUI. Here they are:
Car tow fee: $50
Car storage fee per day: $137
Restricted license fee: $100
Insurance costs: $10,800
Alcohol Education: $585
Minimum fine: $480
Defense Attorney's fee: $2,000
Court costs: $406
Probation fee: $44
Fund for head injuries: $120
He got two points on his record and there wasn't even any injuries or crashes involved.

Once again, none of it is worth it. Driving while impaired can ruin your life! It could also ruin others, many others. So just don't do it. It's stupid!

I was giving my opinion on {drinking/ Using while driving } throughout this entire write up. So please don't take just this last part as the FCA. Thank You