Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 7, 1993 TAG: 9307070416
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURA L. McCLANAHAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I am responsible for notifying family members when a trauma patient comes to our hospital. In my three years in this job, it has never gotten any easier. When the family arrives at the hospital, I keep them informed about what is being done for the patient. If the patient is in critical condition, I try to prepare the family for the news they are going to receive. However, there is nothing anyone can say to prepare the parents of a young boy when the doctor tells them their son is brain dead and there is no hope for recovery. What can I say when his brother asks me if I think the man who killed his brother will go to jail for a long time?
I applaud Ed Shamy for addressing the issue of drinking and driving (June 13 column, "The people speak: Too many dead, too little done"). I agree with J.F., who stated he would support a program where convicted drunken drivers accompany him to the hospital to talk to families. I feel that not only should offenders be mandated to observe in a trauma center, but also should the judges who allow them to have reduced sentences. They, too, should be made to see the destruction they allow to occur.
The system isn't working. There was evidence of this given in Shamy's column by the two people who stated they were still driving, even though their licenses had been suspended. These people are making the choice of whether they are to be punished. Why isn't someone checking to make sure these people are taking responsibility for their actions? The victims certainly are not given the opportunity to choose whether they wish to be hurt or killed. I realize there are those who do learn from their first mistake. However, if even one person dies because a convicted drunken driver continues to drink and drive, the price is too high and our legal system has failed to protect its citizens from a known threat.
I have heard several police officers state that it isn't worth what they have to go through to charge drivers with driving under the influence. They spend a great deal of time filling out reports and sitting in court just to see these offenders let off with little or no punishment at all. It's no wonder people do not see how serious an offense drinking and driving is. Police officers must be given the power to take action against drunken drivers and have their actions supported by our legal system. Lenient sentencing only reinforces the belief that drinking while driving is acceptable behavior.
Bureaucrats argue that there isn't enough money to provide manpower and space needed to adequately punish drunken drivers. When will we stop making excuses? We seem to come up with enough money for other projects in the valley. Is the senseless death of our friends and neighbors an acceptable trade-off for an inadequate system of punishment? I can think of many families who would rather use their money to punish drunken drivers than to bury the ones they love who were killed by them.
Laura L. McClanahan of Roanoke is a patient-representative in the trauma center at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
by CNB