Sunday's RANT

so this story in today's paper pissed me off,,,,,, here is the Start of the Story,,, you can go to the PoJo news to read the rest,,,

Drunken-driving programs try to scare teens straight
As dusk fell over Pawling on July 27, 19-year-old Shane Smith was cruising down Route 55 on his motorcycle after a long day of work at a local landscaping company.
Without warning, a car driven by a young man who had been drinking alcohol and using heroin drifted across the double yellow line of the highway, slamming head-on into Smith and his bike. About an hour later, Smith was pronounced dead at Saint Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, and the driver of the car, 21-year-old Keith Johnson, was in police custody.Last month, a judge sentenced Johnson to prison for up to 10 years as more than 60 friends and relatives of the victim and the defendant watched from the gallery of the fourth-floor courtroom of the Dutchess County Courthouse.Members of Smith's family said they were gratified to see Johnson go to prison, but they said the pain of losing a loved one had not subsided.

So this is just one story of how a family was destroyed by a Drunk killing someone in their family,,, and the story continues to discuss "According to statistics compiled by the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office, about 6 percent of all drivers in Dutchess County are 21 or younger, but they accounted for more than 11 percent of 5,781 motorists arrested in Dutchess County in connection with such offenses between Jan. 1, 2007, and March 31, 2010. "Between 2004 and 2008, 280 people in the mid- and lower Hudson Valley died in alcohol-related traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Of those, 45 were killed in Dutchess County. Only Westchester and Orange counties had more fatalities.

Here is where I start to have an issue,,,, so 280 deaths in the Hudson Valley from this ,,, 45 in Dutchess County,,,, in 4 years,,, IF this was a Serial Killer (and I won;t argue that its not) there would be OUTrage !

11 People a year ! ONE a month is killed ! and what is being done,,, let's look at the data that was posted right next to the Story, and I will not need to draw you a conclusion,, you will see it ,,,

The following defendants have been sent to prison for fatal, alcohol or drug-related auto accidents in Dutchess County in the past five years:

May 24, 2005: David , 38, 2 1/3 to seven years, criminally negligent homicide and driving while ability impaired by drugs.

Sept. 20, 2005: Derek , 21, one to three years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.

Jan. 5, 2006: Timothy , 21, violated probationary sentence, re-sentenced to 1 1/3 to four years, criminally negligent homicide.

Jan. 5, 2006: Ryan , 25, one to three years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.

Dec. 21, 2006: Angel , 24, 1 1/3 to four years in prison, criminally negligent homicide.

April 17, 2007: Brian , 22, 1 1/3 to four years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.

Dec. 17, 2008: Anthony , 18, 1 1/3 to four years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.

June 16, 2009: William , 32, one to three years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.

April 22, 2010, Keith , 21, three to 10 years in prison, vehicular manslaughter.


Now,,,let me understand that These people went out ,,,got drunk, chose to Drive, Killed someone,,, and that equals ONE year ! , 1 and a Third year, Three Years ! in prison. ARE YOU F'ing kidding me !

Here is the MarK H. solution,,, Drink and Drive ,,, Get a YEAR in prison, A full 12 months, 365 days ,,, Sit in that Cell for a year of your life. Get in an accident, 10 years .... Kill or injure someone , get treated as if you used a GUN, or a knife, Sentence a few of these folks to 25 years to life, and make it stick, Drunk driving will drop like a stone!

Ok,, so lets check it out, I looked up the people mentioned in the article, on the Inmate data base for NY state, and of the 6 people on the list that Killed 6 other people,, they served a TOTAL of less then 13 years,,, Nuff Said,,,

38 yr old David - Served less then 4 years
21 yr old Derek - Served less then 2 years
21 yr old Timothy - served less then 3 years
25 yr old Ryan - served 18 months
24 yr old Angel - Served 18 months
24 yr old Brian - served 15 months
18 yr old Anthony - No data,,, guess he is a Youthful offender,
32 yr old William - still serving - 10 months currently
21 yr old Keith - NO data