Quote :

"RALEIGH, N.C. -- Authorities say law enforcement officers are out in full force across North Carolina to catch drunken drivers. The Department of Transportation says the Labor Day "Booze It & Lose It" campaign kicks off this weekend and runs through Sept. 2. The director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program says young adults often celebrate with alcohol as they say good-bye to summer and head back to school. Don Nail says the campaign is designed to remind them they should designate a sober driver, call a cab or take public transit. New public service announcements are running on television and social media. The transportation agency says there were nearly 11,000 alcohol-related crashes in North Carolina last year. More than half of them involved drivers between 18 and 34 years old."

8/18/2013 8:56:21 PM

http://www.wral.com/motorcyclist-killed-in-raleigh-wreck/12840210/

9/1/2013 9:36:56 PM

Quote :

"SHELBY, N.C. — Shelby police have charged a woman with driving while impaired after finding her slumped over the wheel of a car stopped in the drive-through line at a fast-food restaurant. The Shelby Star reports (http://bit.ly/17hOyDM) that police said officers responded to a call about a car sitting in the drive-through lane of a McDonald's with the driver slumped over the steering wheel. It was the second such case in two weeks. A police report said the car driven by 22-year-old Brianna Marie Edmondson was blocking the drive-through on Sunday. The lower of two breath samples taken registered a .20, which is more than twice the legal limit. Edmondson is being held on a $2,500 secured bond at the Cleveland County jail. It's not known if she has an attorney."

9/2/2013 11:32:01 PM

Quote :

"RALEIGH — Starting next month, folks in downtown Raleigh who have had one drink too many should think twice before getting behind the wheel: Raleigh police plan to deploy a squad of officers whose sole purpose is to detect and arrest impaired drivers in the city, particularly downtown. The Raleigh Police Department will soon receive a $525,270 federal grant for DWI enforcement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The cash will fund the creation of a unit that will include four officers and one sergeant outfitted with new vehicles, uniforms and portable breath testers. Federal money also will pay for salaries, training and additional equipment for three additional years, police spokesman Jim Sughrue said. Lt. Tim Tomczak, who helped develop the grant proposal, said the department has tossed about the idea of a DWI squad for several years. He said a chief reason for the squad is downtown Raleigh’s growing night scene. “Raleigh has a large number of bars, restaurants and nightclubs. It seemed to be a logical place to start,” Tomczak said. “When we are working DWI checkpoints in other jurisdictions – we were in Holly Springs Friday night – some folks who we are charging with DWI are telling us they’re coming from Raleigh. “The majority of people who are coming from downtown are fine, upstanding citizens, but you have others who don’t understand the dangers of drinking and driving.” It’s a significant and deadly danger. Tomczak said 30 percent of all fatal crashes in Raleigh last year involved alcohol. The idea for the DWI squad really began to take shape after an early-afternoon crash on St. Patrick’s Day when a motorist accused of drinking and driving ran head-on into a car on Wade Avenue. The collision killed an elderly couple who were going home to watch the ACC basketball tournament after spending the morning at church services. The police department already conducts monthly DWI and seatbelt checkpoints, and patrol officers regularly check for drunken and impaired drivers as part of their duties. But members of the DWI squad will have only one duty: the apprehension of impaired drivers. The officers do not have to answer any other 911 calls unless they involve violence. “Part of the grant requirement is the officers have to spend the majority of their time doing DWI enforcement or else we lose the grant,” Tomczak said. Raleigh police expect the number of DWI arrests to increase with the new team. The department currently averages about 1,500 DWI arrests a year. Tomczak thinks a DWI squad’s presence on Raleigh’s highways could increase that number to 2,200 to 2,300 arrests a year. The federal grant is monitored by the N.C. Governor’s Highway Safety Program. Don Nail, the highway safety program director, said the state got its first DWI squads in 2010 in Robeson and Columbus counties, in the southeastern part of the state, and Forsyth County – places that highway specialists determined had the highest incidence of driver-impaired vehicle crashes. Other counties that later adopted the program include Brunswick, New Hanover and Guilford. Buncombe and Mecklenburg counties are among the applicants for this year’s funding. During the summer’s Independence Day weekend-long “Booze It & Lose It” campaign, DWIs accounted for 455 of the state’s 1,731 DWI arrests, according to the N.C. Department of Transportation. The addition of a DWI squad helped Guilford County nearly triple the number of Independence Day weekend arrests this year, to 146, according to DOT. Tomczak said the Raleigh department will hire officers passionate about getting impaired drivers off the road. He hopes their work will help create awareness that will prevent impaired people from getting behind the wheel. “We want the public to understand we may not get you tonight, or on another night,” Tomczak said. “But one night, we’re going to get you.” Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/11/3186571/raleigh-police-dwi-squad-may-be.html#storylink=cpy"

9/12/2013 10:31:07 AM

awesome, because they already have no problem getting the current ones through court

9/12/2013 11:38:06 AM

The article failed to point out that the St. Patricks day drunk had multiple DWI charges, yet was able to register and drive a vehicle without an ignition interlock.

A simple solution would be to start allowing plea agreements for first time DWI offenders that require them to install interlock devices on any vehicle they drive for a long period of time. That would keep these cases out of trial...freeing up court resources for more serious offenders, and make sure the drunks do not have easy access to a car that will start when they are smashed.

9/12/2013 12:52:40 PM

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/23/ohio-man-gets-6-years-after-dui-crash-confession/3170113/

10/23/2013 12:33:32 PM

There is a funeral today for 20 year old Camille Bullock


a drunk driver hit her head on early Sunday

Please call a cab

10/30/2013 4:03:12 PM

Quote :

"FRANKLINTON — Three weeks before she died in a head-on crash early Sunday, Elizabeth Camille Bullock had enrolled at Miller-Motte College to study cosmetology. She found a third shift job about a week later at Snoopy’s, a Hillsborough Street hot dog stand. Bullock, 20, got off work early Sunday because it was her first weekend working third shift and was driving home, eastbound along Interstate 440, in the pre-dawn dark around 4 a.m. At 6:45 a.m., a Wake County Sheriff’s deputy and Raleigh police officer knocked on the door of her parents’ home in Franklinton. They informed Kenny and Elizabeth Vaughn that a speeding Chevrolet Malibu traveling the wrong way on I-440 had crashed into their daughter’s Mazda, killing her instantly. The officers told them the wrong-way driver, David Viva Xicotencatl, had recently separated from his wife. Xicotencatl, 25, of Dudley, was rushed to WakeMed in Raleigh where he, too, died of his injuries. Police think Xicotencatl was driving while impaired, and they are awaiting toxicology test results. Minutes before the accident, nearly a half-dozen motorists called 911 to report a car speeding in the wrong direction on the interstate near the Capital Boulevard and New Bern Avenue exits. Police now think Xicotencatl got on I-40 at the Hammond Road ramp and drove the wrong way almost halfway around Raleigh’s Beltline before he crashed into Bullock’s car between Six Forks and Wake Forest roads. Xicotencatl’s family could not be reached for comment Thursday. Sharon Artis, a medical examiner’s spokeswoman, said Xicotencatl’s remains were no longer at the medical examiner’s facility. She said Thursday that Xicotencatl’s body was being shipped out of the United States, but she did not know the destination. “I don’t hold any anger toward that man,” Kenny Vaughn said Thursday. “I have compassion for him, whether he was drinking or not.” Vaughn described his daughter as a conscientious driver, largely because of a wreck she was involved in when she was about 10 while riding with her mother. “She hit the windshield (in the previous wreck),” he said. “From that day onward, Camille always wore her seat belt. The officers told us she was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing. She had her seat belt on and was going the speed limit. She saw (Xicotencatl) at the last second and tried to avoid him. She was killed instantly. I thank God for that.” Actually, police estimate Bullock was going below the posted speed limit of 60 mph on I-440 when the crash occurred. According to the accident report made public this week, Bullock braked and steered to the right but could not avoid the crash. Xicotencatl’s Malibu was traveling 82 mph. Drivers’ calls to 911 It was just after 3:50 a.m. when a female motorist called 911 about the speeding Chevrolet Malibu. “There was a car coming toward me on the wrong side of the road, and they are flying,” the motorist told an emergency dispatcher. “I pray to God they don’t hit anybody. I blew my horn, and they were flying. They were flying.” A male driver called 911 just before 4:05 a.m. “It’s probably too late now, but somebody is driving on the wrong side of 440,” the man told the dispatcher. “I literally, barely missed him. Is everything OK?” The dispatcher told him that there had been an accident. “Oh, my God,” the caller replied. Love of laughter Elizabeth Camille Bullock was born in Huntsville, Ala., and moved with her mother to Franklinton when she was about 5. She graduated with honors from high school in 2011 and attended Appalachian State University. She wanted to be a social worker. She left school before her sophomore year. “She ended up coming home because she wasn’t used to being on her own,” Kenny Vaughn said. She decided to enroll at Miller-Motte on Capital Boulevard. “She said, ‘I like doing makeup and hair, so why not go to Miller-Motte and get a degree from there,’” her father said. Vaughn described his daughter as a boisterous, jovial young woman with a loud laugh. She was in the drama club in high school and entered lots of talent shows because she loved to sing. “She took over a room when she walked in. She had the loudest laugh in the world. It got your attention,” Vaughn said. “My wife and I were constantly saying, ‘Camille be quiet!’” Bullock was the granddaughter of retired Raleigh police Sgt. John Fisher. “He’s hanging in there,” his son-in-law said. “He’s taking it harder than anyone.” Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/10/31/3329899/wrong-way-driver-might-have-traveled.html#storylink=cpy"

11/1/2013 11:33:22 AM

I only met her once or twice through friends, but she was a really nice person. so sad

11/1/2013 11:43:59 AM

^that's sad.

23 year old driving a porche without insurance or a registration plate: http://www.wral.com/man-charged-in-i-440-wreck-that-injured-two/13067113/

11/4/2013 11:35:45 AM

Quote :

"CLAYTON, N.C. — A Clayton woman has been charged with being drunk when she went to pick up her grandchildren from school, authorities said. Susan Eason Kepley, 57, was charged with driving while impaired. Authorities said she was swerving on Barber Mill Road when deputies pulled her over Wednesday afternoon, and her breath-alcohol content registered 0.37. Under North Carolina law, a driver is considered impaired with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08."

11/8/2013 3:19:00 PM

A Drunk Driver Tweeted "2 Drunk 2 Care" Before Causing Accident That Killed Two Victims

Quote :

"Police say Kaila Mendoza was allegedly going the wrong way when she crashed. Her Twitter bio says she’s a “pothead princess.” Less than three hours before Kaila Mendoza drove her Hyundai Sonata onto a Florida expressway going the wrong way, crashing and killing two people, she sent a fateful tweet saying she was drunk."

smh

the replies to her post





[Edited on November 22, 2013 at 11:42 AM. Reason : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/kayla-mendoza-article-1.1525666]

11/22/2013 11:39:02 AM

Sup Daniela.

11/22/2013 1:01:53 PM

She might not be as good looking after that head on commission

11/25/2013 1:08:15 AM

Collision

11/25/2013 9:03:45 AM

Who thinks this guy was drunk?

Quote :

"STRAFFORD, VT. — A Vermont man was charged with child cruelty after he walked his two sons more than a mile to a friend's home after a car crash, delaying medical treatment for injuries including broken bones, state police said. Investigators said Justin Galenski's two sons, ages 4 and 9, did not receive medical attention until the next day following a crash on a snow-covered road the night of Nov. 12. Police said Galenski and his sons walked to the home of a friend of Galenski's, a registered nurse, who helped him assess the injuries. Police were contacted the following day by the boys' mother, who was concerned about the delayed medical treatment. Injuries included concussions, a broken arm and a broken clavicle, state police said. Galenski, who was charged Saturday and is due in court next month, said Sunday that he loves his sons and the crash was an accident. Galenski, 40, of Fairlee, said he was advised not to comment further. "I love these boys. The sun and moon rises with them with me. This was an accident. It was a horrible, horrible night. By no means did I mean to hurt my kids," he said. State police said they received a report of a car crashing into a tree in Strafford on the night of Nov. 12 but that the vehicle had been removed by the time troopers got there."

11/25/2013 11:12:40 PM

Quote :

"With the Holidays upon us I would like to share a personal experience with my friends about drinking and driving.As you may know some of us have been known to have brushes with the authorities from time to time on the way home after a "social session" out with friends. Well, two days ago I was out for an evening with friends and had several cocktails followed by some decent red wine. Feeling jolly I still had the sense to know that I may be slightly over the limit.That's when I did something that I've never done before - I took a cab home.Sure enough on the way home there was a police road block, but since it was a cab they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident. This was a real surprise as I had never driven a cab before, I don't know where I got it and now that it's in my garage I don't know what to do with it."

12/18/2013 11:19:59 AM

Might not have waived it on, I've had more than one cab driver that I'm sure was drunk.

12/18/2013 11:24:24 AM

he stole the cab supposedly, see

12/24/2013 12:33:54 AM

Bump as a reminder to you morons out there.

12/31/2013 2:52:41 PM

12/31/2013 9:51:05 PM

Except most drunk drivers kill innocent people and they live.

12/31/2013 10:37:28 PM

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9378584

1/1/2014 11:05:20 PM

Quote :

"Police Say Iowa City Man's Blood-Alcohol Content Too High To Register By Lee Hermiston, Reporter IOWA CITY, Iowa -- You know your blood-alcohol content is too high when a Breathalyzer can't calculate it. Iowa City police said that's what happened early Friday morning when they gave a breath test to an Iowa City man that initially read .467 percent before reading "HI." Officers were called to 2105 J St., the home of 28-year-old Levi B. Carter, for a report of a man who drove off the road and hit a street sign. Police spoke with a passenger in Carter's vehicle who said they heard Carter slurring his speech and believed him to be drunk. The passenger also told police Carter was driving 55 mph on First Avenue - a 25 mph zone - before crashing his car. Police said Carter was talking to people in his basement who were not there, smelled strongly of alcohol and could barely stand without holding himself up. Carter allegedly told police he drank two Bud Lights and admitting to driving home. Carter failed an eye test and was too drunk to complete any other field sobriety tests. The .467 percent reading came on a weak test before the testing instrument simply read "HI," police said. Carter was arrested for drunken driving."

#yolo ?

1/4/2014 3:41:05 PM

http://www.wral.com/car-clips-power-pole-at-busy-intersection-in-west-raleigh/13293781/

1/23/2014 9:58:56 PM

[Edited on March 16, 2014 at 8:03 PM. Reason : .]

3/16/2014 8:02:25 PM

Quote :

"The suspected drunk driver, 50-year-old Kelly Potter, is a youth minister. She had a blood alcohol level of .251 - three times the legal limit, police said."

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24490090/xavier-coach-chris-macks-family-recently-survived-crash-with-drunk-driver

3/18/2014 11:41:22 AM

http://www.wkrg.com/story/25107438/26-year-old-man-dies-in-fiery-crash-on-i-540-in-morrisville

Don't speed and drive people

[Edited on March 29, 2014 at 11:11 PM. Reason : I knew his brother, rip aj]

3/29/2014 11:08:36 PM

Quote :

"BENTON, PA. – Police say a Pennsylvania bus driver who took children back to school instead of driving them home after classes ended has acknowledged eating gin-soaked raisins. Police in Columbia County say they've filed charges including DUI and reckless driving against Benton Area School District driver Jennifer Watson. Students told police that Watson was yelling, cursing and swerving Wednesday afternoon. One student says Watson appeared to be driving her morning bus route even though it was 3:40 p.m. Police tell WNEP-TV they were waiting for Watson along with her boss when she brought the children back to school. Police say Watson denied drinking but acknowledged eating raisins soaked in alcohol that she uses to deal with headaches. Online court records don't list an attorney for her. Her phone number is unlisted."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/22/bus-driver-blames-gin-soaked-raisins-after-driving-kids-back-to-school-police/

3/30/2014 9:40:26 AM

eww, gin soaked raisins?

3/30/2014 11:55:32 AM

Quote :

"GIN SOAKED RAISINS"

3/31/2014 3:42:07 PM

Quote :

"Police tell WNEP-TV they were waiting for Watson along with her boss when she brought the children back to school."

didn't read the article... but does this mean they didn't try to stop the bus while it was still out on the road?

3/31/2014 4:34:44 PM

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=9526788

5/4/2014 8:58:52 PM

^ triangle beach music festival, I guess? drunk in the Garner area at 5:15pm

5/4/2014 9:32:00 PM

Quote :

"RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A woman is facing charges after authorities say she was driving impaired down the interstate with her 3 and 4-year-olds in the car. According to arrest warrants, Jessica Heaton of Raeford was driving 35 mph on I-40 near I-540 around 11 p.m. Friday when a North Carolina State Highway Patrol trooper pulled her over. The trooper wrote that Heaton was seen "weaving badly onto shoulder and across lines," before she was stopped. He also wrote that Heaton had an "open bottle of vodka under her arm," and had "very slurred speech." Court documents showed Heaton had a blood alcohol level of .33 -- more than four times the legal limit. The documents also revealed she told authorities during a breathalyzer test that "I only want to eat and go to sleep." Heaton admitted to being an alcoholic and said she did not remember how much she had to drink, according to court records. Heaton is facing child abuse charges, because her 3 and 4-year-old children were in the backseat of the car when she was pulled over. She is also facing driving while impaired charges. Authorities said Monday that Heaton was unable make her first court appearance, because "she's in the hospital," but did not reveal the reason."

5/5/2014 2:56:47 PM

at least she wasn't speeding.

5/5/2014 3:53:21 PM

Quote :

"RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh man pleaded guilty Monday to killing an elderly couple in a head-on collision on Wade Avenue on St. Patrick's Day last year. Ray Norman Rouse IV, 35, was sentenced under a plea agreement to 128 to 166 months in prison for two counts of second-degree murder and one count of driving while impaired. His driver's license also was revoked. Rouse, who remains in a wheelchair almost 15 months after the crash, said little during the 30-minute court hearing. Wake County Assistant District Attorney Jason Waller said Ormond Jackson Bailey, 83, and his wife, Gaynell Batton Bailey, 79, were on their way home from church to watch the ACC Tournament championship game when Rouse, driving the wrong way on Wade Avenue, slammed into their 2002 Mercury Marquis. Rouse had been drinking at a Sunday brunch at a Glenwood South restaurant, and other drivers saw him ignore a "No Left Turn" sign on West Street and head west in the eastbound lanes of Wade Avenue, Waller said. At least two other vehicles were able to avoid Rouse's speeding 2008 Kia Spectra – investigators determined he was traveling at 40 to 45 mph in a 35-mph zone – but the Baileys collided with him on a curve near the Glenwood Avenue interchange, Waller said. Rouse's blood-alcohol content was measured at WakeMed later that day at 0.21, which is almost three times the 0.08 level at which a driver is considered impaired under North Carolina law. He also had generic Xanax and a second anti-anxiety drug in his system, Waller said. The prosecutor noted that Rouse was convicted of DWI in Durham County in 2002 and had two other DWI charges dismissed in recent years. He also appeared in a 2012 television interview calling St. Patrick's Day "a beer drinking day" and advocating the use of designated drivers. "There's certainly a history here, and Mr. Rouse is aware of the dangers of drinking and driving," Waller said. Defense attorney Matthew Faucette said Rouse has diabetes and has several times in the past gone into diabetic shock while driving when his blood sugar dropped too low. The same thing could have happened before the fatal collision, he said. The Bailey family said they wanted the plea deal to avoid having to go through a trial. "This has been very difficult for our entire family," they said in a statement read in court. "We know it also has been very difficult for Mr. Rouse and his family." Before the plea hearing, Rouse's parents approached the Bailey family and apologized for the crash, adding that they have prayed for the family often during the past year. Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens praised the Bailey family for seeking closure through the plea deal and not holding out for a trial and a possible longer prison sentence for Rouse. "I commend them on their strength to restrain their rage," Stephens said, adding that their parents likely wouldn't have wanted the family consumed by anger. Read more at http://www.wral.com/raleigh-man-gets-10-13-years-in-prison-for-fatal-st-patrick-s-day-crash/13620049/#F0yEW6SpzO2um2OY.99"

5/6/2014 1:02:12 AM

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/504077.html

Quote :

"A U.S. cyclist who pedaled across 50-plus countries for peace and charity was run over and killed in Russia by a drunken truck driver, ITAR-Tass news agency said Friday. Ron McGerity, 61, was the victim of a hit-and-run driver on a federal highway from Kostroma to Ivanovo in central Russia, the agency said, citing Ivanovo police. The driver, whose name was withheld, was soon apprehended by traffic police, who allege he was drunk."

7/25/2014 2:38:07 PM

From looking at YouTube I have ascertained that everyone in Russia is drunk at all hours of the day every day of the year.

7/25/2014 2:45:34 PM

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Suffolk-County-Police-Drunk-Man-Accidentally-Kills-Friend-Who-Refused-to-Ride-With-Him-DWI-Arrest-Krystal-Berkowitz-Setauket-Coram-268734471.html

Quote :

"Police: Drunk Man Accidentally Kills Friend Who Refused to Ride With Him Krystal Berkowitz, 21, died early Saturday after she attempted to walk home rather than allow her 23-year-old friend to drive her, Suffolk County police said Saturday, Jul 26, 2014 • Updated at 5:28 PM EDT A young woman who refused to ride in an SUV driven by a drunk friend was fatally struck by his vehicle as he attempted to speak to her on the side of a Long Island road, police said. Krystal Berkowitz, 21, died early Saturday after she attempted to walk home along Nesconset Highway in Setauket rather than allow her 23-year-old friend to drive her, Suffolk County police said. The driver followed her and tried to pull over to speak with her, but hit her instead, police said. Officers arriving at the scene found the friend trying to help her. He had called 911 to no avail; Berkowitz was pronounced dead at the scene, Suffolk County police said. The 23-year-old was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer."

7/26/2014 6:55:32 PM

^ Wow.

7/26/2014 7:26:55 PM

^^sometimes it IS better to ride with a drunk driver than walk it seems

7/26/2014 8:21:39 PM

http://www.wral.com/car-wrecks-on-raleigh-s-glenwood-avenue-nearly-clips-gas-pump/13876430/

8/8/2014 8:18:48 AM

Had a friend die early this morning from drunk driving. He wasn't even out on the town, just got drunk and thought it'd be fun to goof off in the car around the col-de-sac at 2AM. He flipped the car & wasn't wearing a seat belt. He was thrown and crushed when the car landed on him.

There were 3 others in the car equally drunk, but they were wearing seatbelts and suffered non-life threatening injuries.

He had a wife and 2 young kids.

He was a good person who made a bad choice. Dont drive drunk.

8/10/2014 6:15:36 PM

Does anyone have a link to the story from about 10 years ago when the drunk guy killed some people on the way to a football game? It was on Hillsborough St. near the state surplus property place. It seems like the people were changing a tire, but I'm not sure. I know he wound up with a good bit of prison time.

8/10/2014 10:48:43 PM

The driver's name was Larry Robert Veeder.
He was drunk and barreled through the scene of an existing accident that including other drivers and pedestrians who came to help.

The friend mentioned above was a neighbor of my parents. My wife and I have been pretty angry about the whole thing today after talking to my mom. His wife was one of the 3 others in the car and she suffered the worst of the injuries with a broken vertebrae. She's lucky to still be walking today.

8/11/2014 12:45:10 AM

name coincidence? http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/107444/

8/11/2014 8:40:20 AM

I think Mtan Man214 was referring to two different people in that post.

8/11/2014 8:56:43 AM

Yeah, Larry Robert Veeder was the drunk driver who Bcsawyer was asking about and unrelated to the accident I was talking about.

8/11/2014 9:19:03 AM