If he won’t give you his keys, take his pants. Hooray, responsibility! With Labor Day
parties coming up, now is as good a time as any to remind everyone to drink responsibly. Not trying to be your mom or
anything, but if you blow more than a .08, the penalty can be worse than a free ride in a cruiser and mandatory
community service. Overwhelming legal fees, increased auto insurance rates, losing the right to drive your car (the
horror!), and thousands of dollars in state assessed fees, among other things, are the punishments for driving while
above the legal limit.
In Michigan, one sad story has served as a painful reminder about the need to pass the keys whenever necessary. On
Tuesday, May 3, a software account executive named Thomas Wellinger crashed his 2005 GMC Yukon Denali into a 1999 Honda
Accord, killing driver Judith Weinstein and her two sons, 12 year-old Alexander and 9 year-old Samuel. Wellinger?s
blood alcohol level was .43 when it was measured after the accident ? more than five times the legal limit and a rate
at which most individuals would be unconscious.
What was probably a case of a recently-divorced man drowning his sorrows resulted in not just one tragedy, but five:
the end to the lives of Judith and her two sons, a grief-stricken widower in Gary Weinstein, and second-degree murder
charges for Thomas Wellinger. Five lives ruined.
Apparently, Wellinger isn?t even a bad guy. Although we instinctively want to vilify Wellinger, his neighbors and
friends interviewed after the horrible incident portrayed him as a clean-cut guy with a good job, nice houses and cars,
and a loving husband and father. Experts pinned him as a functional alcoholic; someone who has built up a tolerance to
alcohol and drinks daily to avoid withdrawal symptoms, but also someone whose alcoholism does not prevent them from
keeping a steady job or having a family.
A recent article in the Detroit Free Press examined metro Detroit?s drunken driving arrests from May 12-15, and they
found some interesting things. Over 100 reports showed young people, elderly people, mothers with kids still in the car
? people at all levels of intoxication ? being pulled over at 9:30 in the morning or 11:45 at night. Sometimes they
were on their way to work, sometimes about to pick up kids from daycare, or coming home after a night at the bar. Some
of them were even drinking while driving, feebly trying to hide empty cans and bottles behind the drivers seat. Many
were repeat offenders, but some weren?t.
For those of us who aren?t functioning alcoholics, it will take a blood alcohol level of a heck of a lot less than .43
for us to become dangerous behind the wheel. In fact, even if you don?t blow higher than a .08, cops can still write
you a pretty expensive ticket at their discretion. A general rule of thumb (on the conservative side, but still a good
rule) is that it takes one hour for a person to metabolize one serving of alcohol. And remember, one serving of alcohol
is not a Long Island Iced Tea ? it?s 1.5 oz. of hard liquor, one 12 oz. bottle of beer, or a 4 oz. glass of wine.
Do yourself and everybody else a favor ? make sure to have a designated driver this weekend.