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Two dead after drunk plows through SXSW crowd

So many lives changed forever because of one drunk's reckless selfishness.
 
nota bene said:
Cop stopped a drunk, and he ran, plowing through a crowded street that was closed to traffic and striking multiple people. Then he fled on foot, the coward.

He's charged with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of assault.

2 dead after car crashes into SXSW crowd | www.statesman.com
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It's time for us to start using The Dram Act. Find out where that idiot got his booze and hold deep pockets accountable for tragedies like this. Nothing is going to change until we start going after the bars and restaurants who over-serve and then let someone walk out of their establishments with car keys.

What a tragedy.
 
He could just as easily got lit at home, or bought booze and parked and drank.
 
MaggieD said:
It's time for us to start using The Dram Act. Find out where that idiot got his booze and hold deep pockets accountable for tragedies like this. Nothing is going to change until we start going after the bars and restaurants who over-serve and then let someone walk out of their establishments with car keys.

What a tragedy.
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Very true. Fine them excessively, but more importantly, rescind their liquor license permanently.
 
MaggieD said:
Yeah, well, that's pretty obvious. But maybe it's time we started finding out.
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You're asking bartenders, who aren't exactly getting rich at their profession, to deliberately take action to reduce their pay.

I don't know.

To me, that's right up there with expecting a restaurant manager to kick out families with unruly kids. Seems logical on the surface of it, until it's YOU that has to do the deed, and face potential termination, bad PR, reduced oportunity for advancement, etc, as a result.

This is one of those cases where I think a modicum of self responsibility comes into play.

Planning on going out drinking? Got a tendency to drink a bit more than you plan on after the first few? Get a driver. Call a cab. Make arrangements. People do that every weekend, all across the country, without incident.
 
People killed by a car. Obviously, we need more car control.
 
MaggieD said:
It's time for us to start using The Dram Act. Find out where that idiot got his booze and hold deep pockets accountable for tragedies like this. Nothing is going to change until we start going after the bars and restaurants who over-serve and then let someone walk out of their establishments with car keys.
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I disagree. Bars aren't the problem, people who can't be responsible with their alcohol are. You can't effectively solve a problem if you just treat the symptom. He could have simply gotten blitzed at home and then went out driving. The Dram Act or any other constraint on bartenders can't do anything about that.

Substance abuse/addition classes should be part of the required curriculum in high schools. Solutions like that would actually address the problem rather than just the symptom.
 
Binary_Digit said:
Substance abuse/addition classes should be part of the required curriculum in high schools. Solutions like that would actually address the problem rather than just the symptom.
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Stop the madness. We are much too invested in trying to teach calculus to kids who can't read.
 
MaggieD said:
Stop the madness. We are much too invested in trying to teach calculus to kids who can't read.
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I'm confused. Are you saying high school kids would be unable to learn about the dangers of substance abuse and addiction? That they wouldn't get anything out of watching videos of real people struggling with real addictions and showing how devastating bad decisions with these substances can be?
 
Binary_Digit said:
I'm confused. Are you saying high school kids would be unable to learn about the dangers of substance abuse and addiction? That they wouldn't get anything out of watching videos of real people struggling with real addictions and showing how devastating bad decisions with these substances can be?
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No, I'm not saying that. When would you show them the films? In between the sex ed/venereal disease films just before the evils of abortion?

You apparently don't get sarcasm?
 
MaggieD said:
No, I'm not saying that. When would you show them the films? In between the sex ed/venereal disease films just before the evils of abortion?
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The logistics shouldn't be that hard for someone to figure out. But don't you agree it would be a better and more effective solution than blaming bartenders for what their patrons do after leaving the bar?

MaggieD said:
You apparently don't get sarcasm?
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Just not yours, apparently. :)
 
Binary_Digit said:
The logistics shouldn't be that hard for someone to figure out. But don't you agree it would be a better and more effective solution than blaming bartenders for what their patrons do after leaving the bar?
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There are plenty of laws on the books prohibiting bartenders (bars) from over-serving regardless of whether they're driving. When you hear 2 people dead and 26 injured (at least a half-dozen seriously**), it begs the question: "Who served him the alcohol?" We are more likely to prosecute (at least civilly) a private home's owners than we are bartenders and their employers. There's nothing wrong with insisting on professional responsibility.

**Just think: brain damage; paralysis; whatever. Families and lives destroyed. If a bar, in the name of profit, ignorance or embarrassment served a guy well-past oblivion? I think they should also be held responsible.
 
americanwoman said:
Yes! We should require all cars to be registered, insured, and the driver must pass a reasonable test to obtain a license to operate them.


:lol: oh wait...
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Great....got any data on what all that prevents? Didnt prevent this tragedy, did it?
 
MaggieD said:
There are plenty of laws on the books prohibiting bartenders (bars) from over-serving regardless of whether they're driving. When you hear 2 people dead and 26 injured (at least a half-dozen seriously**), it begs the question: "Who served him the alcohol?" We are more likely to prosecute (at least civilly) a private home's owners than we are bartenders and their employers. There's nothing wrong with insisting on professional responsibility.

**Just think: brain damage; paralysis; whatever. Families and lives destroyed. If a bar, in the name of profit, ignorance or embarrassment served a guy well-past oblivion? I think they should also be held responsible.
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It is indeed a tragedy that this happened. But I think you're misdirecting your anger past the person who is responsible for it.

While holding parties responsible for over-serving someone already intoxicated is not a 'bad' thing, no where in the article does it say that he was 'excessively intoxicated'. Not all alcohol shows it's effects immediately.

The first and primary responsible party is the one who drank alcohol in the first place.
 
GottaGo said:
It is indeed a tragedy that this happened. But I think you're misdirecting your anger past the person who is responsible for it.

While holding parties responsible for over-serving someone already intoxicated is not a 'bad' thing, no where in the article does it say that he was 'excessively intoxicated'. Not all alcohol shows it's effects immediately.

The first and primary responsible party is the one who drank alcohol in the first place.
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I agree with the responsible party is the guy who drank too much. But we have The Dram Act for a reason. And every Friday/Saturday night at bars all over this country, sloppy drunks are getting served.
 
MaggieD said:
I agree with the responsible party is the guy who drank too much. But we have The Dram Act for a reason. And every Friday/Saturday night at bars all over this country, sloppy drunks are getting served.
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If someone wants to get ****faced, then that is their concern.

When they decide to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, or otherwise inflict themselves on society at large, then it's everyone's concern.
 
MaggieD said:
There are plenty of laws on the books prohibiting bartenders (bars) from over-serving regardless of whether they're driving. When you hear 2 people dead and 26 injured (at least a half-dozen seriously**), it begs the question: "Who served him the alcohol?" We are more likely to prosecute (at least civilly) a private home's owners than we are bartenders and their employers. There's nothing wrong with insisting on professional responsibility.

**Just think: brain damage; paralysis; whatever. Families and lives destroyed. If a bar, in the name of profit, ignorance or embarrassment served a guy well-past oblivion? I think they should also be held responsible.
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We have those laws here in Texas and they are used. FWIW, this guy was in a stolen car so he had other reasons to run.

BREAKING: Driver involved in SXSW crash identified, from Killeen - KXXV-TV News Channel 25 - Central Texas News and Weather for Waco, Temple, Killeen |
 
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