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Girl tweets "2 Drunk 2 Care" before killing 2 people in wrong-way crash

Foreigner said:
Why does the drunk driver survive way more often than the ones they crash into?
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it happens all the time doesn't it.. most likely to do with the fact that they are all relaxed at the time of impact because they are so drunk.
 
23536 said:
Apparently, when traffic fatalities get excluded from the figures, the US has the highest life expectancy in the world.

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/08/25/violence-traffic-accidents-and-us-life-expectancy/

When you factor in accidents and homicides, we are like 40th in life expectancy.
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Wow. I find this this hard to believe. I mean yeah, I have read that our auto accident and murder rates were higher than most developed countries'. Furthermore, our suicide and alcohol consumption levels don't put us the top ten, but aren't low either. But I would have thought it's our eating habits that really take points off our national life expectancy.

So why are there so many traffic deaths in the US? People drive drunk in every country.
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I think you'll find that in person-miles (or kilometres, if you fancy it), the US is much higher than most other countries with comparable rates of alcohol consumption. I've lived and traveled in a bunch of other countries, and I'll drive anywhere. But I have never felt the need to get behind a wheel anywhere as often as when I've been in the US, or go nearly as long distances. Urban planning and socioeconomic factors have favored this wasteful driving-heavy lifestyle in the US, as opposed to most countries with big populations, where most people are concentrated in urban centers with ample and well-maintained public transit, and plenty to do and see within a reasonable walk or bike ride for most folks.

No, I really don't think you'll find drunk driving is nearly the same level of problem for most of the world's people. First of all, let's not forget that only half of all the world's adults ever drink alcohol, and a lot of the ones who do don't do it all that much or all that frequently. But even among those who abuse alcohol, a large number live in places where they don't need a car to get to places to drink. Drunk driving is a pretty heavily punished crime is most countries (as it should be), especially when property gets damaged or innocent people are hurt, and it's not hard for any experienced cop to spot a driver who's drunk to the point of motor and judgment deficits. IME there are a lot of countries where it's common sense to the common people to never attract the attention of law enforcement, for any reason. A lot of places have traffic that's so congested and slow, on roads that are so poorly maintained, that accidents are just not as common, and typically less deadly when they occur. For its volume, US traffic moves surprisingly fast.

Statistics show that a generation or two ago, the US was a harder-drinking country than it is today. Many people would chalk this up to greater awareness about the dangers of drunk driving. But I think this greater awareness was spurred by the simple presence of more people driving more miles after the Great White Flight, urban deindustrialization, and suburban sprawl in the 70s. People who like alcohol just drink less of it less often now, because there are fewer times when they won't have to soon drive a fair distance, probably on a well-trafficked and fast moving road.

I've noticed that one social setting in the US where heavy boozing is tolerated -- traditional 4-year undergraduate college -- is typically a setting of high population concentrations, and either ample bus transportation or places to drink a walk away. Fewer and fewer Americans are doing college this way anymore, which probably also helps drive down overall alcohol consumption rates. But even so, [the minority of] thriving walkable urban centers that cater to young hip professionals all have a thriving boozing culture for those who are into this.
 
Gosh, no words for this horrible tragedy.

Likely they will throw the book at her and make an example.

The tweets were a poor girl reaching out for help, I would say.

She just ruined 3 lives.
 
Malaysia:
The drunk driver is jailed and if married, his wife is jailed too.
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Oh come on, that can't be real.

Bulgaria:
A second conviction results in execution.

El Salvador:
Your first offense is your last---execution by firing squad.
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I wonder how that's working.
 
That seems a little extreme to me ^ tho I also wonder what there figures for drunken driving are.

Not again good point. Whether she thought it was cool or just wanted the attention she probably has a problem.
 
23536 - Malaysia is mostly Muslim. Alcohol use under Muslim law is a severe offense and it would make sense that both would be jailed since women must be with their men.

I actually looked those up and they seem to all three be true. Bulgaria abolished the death penalty in any criminal case whatsoever though back in 1998 so like I said, the punishments on that list some of them are outdated. It was a quick Google.

They all used to be true however.
 
i think tweeting something asinine right before drunk crashing is how i want to go out, it seems to be in vogue nowadays
 
^definitely a way to get your name out there..

Guy crashed last year during a dui killed a couple passengers one being his girlfriend, gave his brother brain damage, and survived with minor injuries.
He's now doing time in the idaho prison system. Even worse has to live with that accident for the rest of his life. I think he's 21 if that. Heard his bro is doing better tho.
 
^That is gotta be Hell to live with. I can't imagine, it has to be the worst punishment to suffer.
 
Foreigner said:
Why does the drunk driver survive way more often than the ones they crash into?
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i thought it was because the drunk driver has most of their muscles very relaxed during the crash and this prevents them from experiencing injuries as severe as someone who isnt drunk. im sure that it is something to do with the effects of alcohol on the body
 
^My guess is a result of momentum and inertia in favor of the person who is driving drunk. The victims are more likely to try to slow down or turn to avoid the drunk driver, while the drunk driver is either passed out at the wheel and on the accelerator or so out of control they are unable to slow down prior to contact.

I think the alcohol relacing a person can help limit the prevalence of minor injuries like whiplash and such. But most fatal injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents involve far more force and being relaxed isn't going to do much for them.
 
What is all this about relaxation and injury prevention?

Crumple zones in front ends absorb energy. It's the same principle as people who fall out of planes and unto thick snow and survive.

The formula for impact force is 2mv/t. Increase the time of the impact event and you decrease the force. Crumple zones increase impact time.

Drunk drivers usually initiate the impact with their front ends. Hence their survivability. I imagine that drunk drivers who drive into traffic and get sideswiped suffer a pretty high rate of fatality.
 
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