Repeat offenders should be severely punished after their second charge. But why should we continue to allow these people more opportunities to take someone else life because they choose to make very bad decisions. This needs to STOP.
Julie Beck's life changed forever on June 9 last year.
That's when a drunken driver killed her sister, Robin Berry, in a wreck on Gordon Highway.
Adding to Ms. Beck's emotional devastation was the fact that Jose Fuentes-Sanchez, 29, had four prior DUI arrests before crashing into the car driven by her 45-year-old sister, the mother of two sons and one stepdaughter. Mrs. Berry, of Cochran, Ga., was trying to get to Medical College of Georgia Children's Medical Center.
Mr. Fuentes-Sanchez, of Hephzibah, was driving drunk and without a valid license. He had already spent time in jail for driving drunk -- 30 days in 2002, 10 more the next year and 30 in 2006.
In December, Mr. Fuentes-Sanchez pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle in the first degree, driving under the influence, and driving after being declared a habitual violator. The judge accepted a plea negotiation for a 16-year prison sentence.
"You shouldn't continue to get another chance and another chance," Ms. Beck said, adding that Mrs. Berry's death prevented her sister from witnessing the birth of her second grandchild. "A couple of days in jail and a $1,000 fine isn't enough."
The penalty for driving drunk in Georgia has been considered notoriously weak by proponents of tougher legislation. However, that could soon be changing.
Legislation is pending in the General Assembly to make a fourth DUI conviction a felony punishable by one to five years in prison. Currently in Georgia, DUI arrests are always misdemeanor offenses punishable by a maximum 12-month jail sentence.
According to the state's Web site, House Bill 336 made it out of a Senate committee with a favorable recommendation Thursday. If the Senate approves the legislation today, it will be sent to Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Although drunken driving has decreased overall in the past 20 years, about a third of the DUI arrests in 2006 were repeat drunken drivers, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Georgia Mothers Against Drunk Driving Executive State Director Denise Thames said statistics show that before a person is arrested for DUI, he has driven drunk 85 times.
The best way to stop repeat offenders is to toughen the penalties for DUI and make the imposition of ignition-lock devices mandatory, Ms. Thames said.
That wouldn't have prevented the incident that killed Mrs. Berry. Mr. Fuentes-Sanchez had been forced to put an ignition lock device into his car to prevent it from starting if he was intoxicated. However, he was driving his wife's car that Saturday morning when he hit Mrs. Berry. His blood alcohol level was over 0.2. In Georgia, a driver is presumed impaired at 0.08.
Giving Georgia's DUI law more teeth would please some in law enforcement.
Sgt. Alex Nelson, of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, lost a promising military career because of a drunk driver and 20 years later, witnessed a young man's death in a DUI wreck. Both cases involved repeat DUI offenders.
Before he got into law enforcement, Sgt. Nelson had recommendations for admission to the Air Force and Naval academies for five-year scholarships.
But one Sunday afternoon in January 1986 as he rode with his brother, Willie, on Georgia Highway 24, a drunk driver slammed into the Nelson family's Volkswagen bus.
With severe injuries to his knee, back, head and left eye, he couldn't pass the physical to get into either academy.
"He killed it (a military career) before it got started," Sgt. Nelson said.
Fast forward 20 years. After finishing a 12-hour shift on road patrol, Sgt. Nelson took a quick shower and jumped behind the wheel of a limo he owns in his Expressive Limousine company.
On Deans Bridge Road, Sgt. Nelson could see drivers traveling in the opposite direction flashing their lights. They were also calling 911 from cell phones to report a vehicle traveling down the wrong side of the road.
Sgt. Nelson saw the driver in time to avoid a collision. The driver behind the limo wasn't as fortunate.
The drunk driver, Charles A. Silas, 45, of Matthews, Ga., slammed his vehicle head-on into Kevin Simpkins' vehicle, according to court records. The 20-year-old was killed in the crash.
Mr. Silas, like Mr. Fuentes-Sanchez, had had several DUIs.
Sgt. Nelson said he has faith the message is getting out, but, he added, "There are still going to be those who won't quit."
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
DUI FATALITIES
SINCE 2004
U.S.
2004 - 14,409
2005 - 12,945
2006 - 13,470
2007 - pending
GEORGIA
2004 - 461
2005 - 463
2006 - 464
2007 - 464
COLUMBIA COUNTY:
2004 - 0
2005 - 1
2006 - 1
2007 - 2
RICHMOND COUNTY:
2004 - unavailable
2005 - unavailable
2006 - unavailable
2007 - 7
Sources: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; State Solicitor Harold Jones; Columbia County Sheriff's Department
Comments
Repeat offenders should be severely punished after their second charge. But why should we continue to allow these people more opportunities to take someone else life because they choose to make very bad decisions. This needs to STOP.
Get the message out.
How many families have been affected by a drunk driver.
How many friends' lives have been affected by a drunk driver.
How many drunk drivers' have stopped drinking after the first accident?
Drunk drivers might not die in the accidents. But often innocent people do.
How will you feel if your child starts driving and is hit by a drunk driver and injured or killed?
Who will take care of your children if a drunk driver kills you?
How would you feel if the only thing a drunk driver cares about is the embarrassment of getting his or her picture in the newspaper?
A designated driver isn't always necessarily always safe from a drunk in the car either. A drunken passenger is a distraction to the driver. Distractions can equal mistakes. Mistakes while driving can equal death.
I'm not sure what the solutions are. But something isn't working. I would like greater minds than mine looking into the habitual violator problem.
Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Silas are [filtered word]'s!! and so are the judges, the lawyers who defend them, the lawmakers who suck at it, and every one of them should be sued for a repeat drunk driver who killed someone and for 4 dui's only served a total of 70 days. That's 5 dui's one of which killed an innocent person. And this [filtered word] gets 16 years. And you know his sorry behind wn't serve them all!! I never say this but I am so sick of drunk driver, I hope he gets what he deserves in jail and the only way he is released is feet first!!!! Please if at anytime anyone needs help in protesting rallying or anything else to get the message through to the idiots that they have got to start stiffening these penalties, I would love to be a part of it!! Madd evidently couldn't get anything done!!! I hope the jerkoff's responsible for this, not the drivers, but the ones who end up giving these losers such light slaps on the wrist can sleep at night knowing YOU killed someone. You are accessories and should be charged. [filtered word]'s!!!!!!!!!!
Why is a dui, 2nd third etcc.. misdemeanors? And 1-5 for 4 dui's. If jerkoff's cant stop after thier first one, They do not ever need to be free. Give 3-5 on a second dui and I bet there will be less 3rd's. This isn't rocket science you idiots!!!! I don't care about over crowding. You will keep someone in jail for possession or piddly non violent tings, but you wont keep these sorry pieces of crap in jail!! I'm proud to be a Georgian except in few instances, this is one. Our lawmakers should be ASHAMED!!!!!!!!!!
I wish in every drunk driving accident the only ones ever killed were the drunks, they deserve it!!!!!! Ahhhh maybe in a perfect world!!! Where do I get the info on scumbag repeat offender drunk drivers?? I would love to stalk them especially on weekend nights and follow them from the bars and call the cops as soon as they get in thier car!!! Maybe if they knew someone was specifically out to get them and there was a "big brother type" watching them they would slow down little. I wonder if I could get commission from the fines for reporting the [filtered word]'s for gas money lol I would do it though just because I hate drunk drivers that much!! Obviously they care nothing about other citzens or even thier own children. I wonder how upset they would be if a drunk driver killed one of their children? Would they be angry?? I'd slap them in the face if I was there the minute they started to get mad!!!!! [filtered word]'s!!!!!!!!
Maximum of 12 months for any dui becuase its a misdemeanor.. so 10 duis and no more than a year max??? What BS!!!!!!! What is the deterrant for these creeps?? It sure enough isn't the fact they may kill someone. They don't care. I think jerkoff sanchez should have been charged with premeditated murder. Anytime you kill after dui one.. its premeditated!!!!!! [filtered word]'s. I wish I could tell sanchez exactly what a sumbag I thought he was personally. I sure wish he could read this!!!
Looks like no one else really cares about the subject of drunk driving except us baroness.lol They are to involved with james brown and dog parks!!!!!
I wonder how many "good" citizens drive after having a "few beers" manage to make it home without an accident, then point an accusing finger at the one who got caught or was involved in an 'accident?' I don't drink, period, but know those who do and haven't been stopped. It sickens me to see them waggle a finger at one who is caught and then take a self-righteous stance against them. Drinking is a social problem that needs to be addressed appropriately by society as a whole. MADD was started as a lie; the mother of the teen who died in a DUI wreck was far more drunk than the individual who collided with him. That fact was printed in the papers when that accident occurred. Some years later, the mother/founder of MADD was arrested and jailed for -- you guessed it -- DUI. Far as I'm concerned, unless people are willing to sanely address the problem DUI's present, I won't support agenicies founded on a blatant lie. No, I do not condone drinking and driving; but neither do I condone bars and parties that continue to serve their guests and then let them loose on the road.
And I don't condone the prosecutors, attorneys, judges, or police officers who alledgely 'enforce' the laws for DUI when they have been guilty of the same infraction--except they were either not caught or the infraction was handled 'under cover.'
my 22 year old son was one of the 464 killed in 2007 in Columbus, Georgia by a drunk driver. Our day in court has not arrived as of yet but honestly, I am not expecting much based on the research I have done. My life is forever broken.
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