Quote:
Originally Posted by roadrash  OK, I'll be the a$$hole, since I'm good at it.
Based on what I've read so far, he didn't just "die" of natural causes, and he wasn't "killed" by someone else. Apparently he had been drinking (tweeted photos of himself drinking with friends), was driving too fast (100-foot skid marks), lost control of his vehicle and crashed. I find it hard to feel sad about that sort of thing, regardless of who it is. It's not sad, it's stupid. To me, the sad part here is that the passenger was killed. |
I don't think you're an a-hole JMJ. The first article I posted didn't mention the twitter photo, speeding or even the time of the crash. It was somewhat vague and only mentioned that the crash had occured in the early morning and the cause as well as the passenger's identity remained unkown. I went back and replaced that article with a more detailed one that I found later.
I agree, there's a certain selfishness that people have when they put other's lives at risk. Some people can dismiss it as poor or "lack of" judgement. Personally I think that's a cop out used to let those people off the hook easily. Fact is, people who drink and drive, or drive recklessly are inconsiderate jerks who think they have some sort of entitlement which grants them the right to take other people's lives into their own hands. In other words, "lack of judgement" = inconsiderate IMO. If people simply considered the consequenses of their actions, there would be no lack of judgement and these types of incidents could be easily labeled accidental or intentional.
The real victims are the innocent people who somehow get mixed up in these unfortunate events. Families will have time to grieve. The unsuspecting person driving home to feed her children and check her email will not get that chance. The first responders who get to pull dead babies out of mangled carseats and scoop flesh and bones out of floorboards and off of windshields who are expected to maintain their composure and appear professional will not get that chance. The notifying authority who has to wake up the deceased person's wife and tell them that their husband was killed by a drunk driver on his way home from work and then while she's standing there in shock, turn around and tell their 4 year old son that his daddy isn't coming home to take him to the races that they planned for weeks while he calls you a liar and tells you he hates your guts... I swear to god it took every ounce of strength I had not to cry in front of him and for a moment I wished I was the one who died. It really messed me up for a long time. Looking back, I'd probably still be a cop if I would've thought to take him to the races. As if taking a day off and dedicating it to making him smile would somehow make it all better
Drinking and driving and/or reckless driving is selfish. People think the penalties are harsh, I believe they should be harsher. If someone is willing to risk other people's lives, they should be treated as a murderer because essentially that's what they are. It could be the coolest person in the world, someone you've admired your whole life, but when that selfishness reaches the surface, it's no mistake.
It still makes me sad to see Ryan Dunn go out so young though. Reports are now saying that he had 3 beers and three shots. Personally, as much as I've seen Ryan drink and based on my own experiences as both a drinker and an administrator of sobriety tests, while that amount of alcohol consumed in any reasonable amount of time may certainly put your BAC above the legal limit, it shouldn't be enough to render someone of his size and tolerance incapable of making an intelligent decision. Although we don't know if he was drunk, I think it's safe to say that alcohol and speed were possible factors. I've been in that area before. At 3am with no witnesses, there's no telling what actually happened. A deer could've jumped out or been standing in the road for all we know. So yeah, I'm sad. He was the same age as me and living a life that many of us would've liked to live.