Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Could you be this forgiving?

A few days ago, a family from Pickering, Ontario, was literally torn apart by a drunk driver.

The St-Denis family had embarked upon a long-awaited and well deserved trip to Florida. They made it as far as Bedford, Pennsylvania, but a drunk in a truck, travelling the wrong way on the interstate, plowed into their minivan. Three members of the family were killed. Only the mother and one adult daughter survived.

Angela St-Denis has forgiven the man who killed her husband and two of her children. She said:

He's a human being. He made a mistake. All I want now is that he never get behind the wheel of a car again.

I wish I could be as noble as Mrs. St-Denis. I would want the driver to be imprisoned for life, with the picture of the family he killed tattooed on his forehead. As far as I'm concerned, he is a murderer.

According for the Centers for Disease Control, 16,885 people in the U.S. died in alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes in 2005. That's almost 6 times as many victims as the 9/11 attacks. There is absolutely no excuse for drinking and driving. Stay home, take a cab, or abstain from alcohol. Why can't people grasp this simple idea? Why isn't there a "war" on drunk drivers? What will it take to end the carnage?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am with you on this subject. Here in the province of Ontario Canada, One can not smoke in a public place, BUT one can drink beer and or alcohol drinks in a public place. The OPP can set up their RIDE programme, but if the courts do not come down hard on people who drink and drive, we will still have jack---'s driving on the road.

RBC

Anonymous said...

Drunk driving is stupid.

Mrs. St-Denis is very noble. I don't know how I would react, and I hope that no one ever has to experience this ever again.