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Subscribe to RSSA minivan going the wrong way on a southwestern Ohio highway struck another minivan head-on early Sunday, killing four people and critically injuring two others, authorities said.
The first minivan was carrying a family leaving a Christmas party, and the vehicle it struck was carrying a family going to see grandparents for the holidays, The Associated Press reported.
The accident happened about 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 75 near milepost 35 in Warren County, near the town of Franklin.
In a news release, Ohio State Patrol Lt. Anne Ralston said a 1997 Dodge minivan was traveling south in the northbound lanes on I-75 when it struck a 2000 Chrysler minivan.
The driver of the Dodge minivan, Joshua Nkansah, 40, of Fairfield, Ohio, and his 7-year-old son, David Nkansah, died at the scene, Ralston said. A 4-year-old boy in the van was transported to a hospital in Middletown and then flown to Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati with what troopers said were life-threatening injuries.
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The driver of the Chrysler minivan, Michele Barhorst, 31, of Madisonville, Tenn., also died at the scene. Her husband, Scott Barhorst, 37, was flown to a hospital in Cincinnati where he died from his injuries, troopers said. A 9-year-old in the van was flown to Dayton Children's Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Two other children, ages 8 and 11, were being treated at a Middletown hospital for serious injuries, and an 18-year-old was being treated there for minor injuries, the patrol said.
Alcohol was a suspected factor in the crash, Ralston said.
Ohio State Patrol Sgt. Stan Jordan told the AP that investigators smelled liquor in the minivan that was going the wrong way and found a bottle of alcohol in the vehicle.
The accident shut down the highway for several hours Sunday morning, WDTN-TV reported.
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Well, thank goodness cannabis is outlawed, and alcohol is legal.
Much sympathy to all.
Alcohol will not be illegal because it is served by legislators at their official functions. We taxpayers foot the bill for this (at least in VA). Legislators will never prohibit anything they enjoy.
What a shame that innocent children and their parents were killed because of one adult selfishly drinking to his heart's content and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle. That is very sad.
The shame is not one of those people in that van- that we know of-said NO to the idiot that was driving.
People will NEVER learn.
Weak point by pot head.
Only to alcoholics with comprehension issues...
The only other people in the drunk drivers van were his 7 & 4 year old sons. I don't think they knew enough to realize that Daddy was drunk and driving on the wrong side of a divided highway.
@BarbaraB-810840, you might want to read it again. The only two people in the vehicle with the suspected drunk driver were 4 and 7...his kids. I doubt they even knew to say anything, and even if they did, would he have listened? I doubt it.
Driving while high or, drunk and high, will not make things better. Adding marijuana to the mix or insinuating that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more dangerous is ludicrous. I understand all the dope smokers want it legal and it should be to an extent, but don't say another drug is good for our country. You know you want to smoke it to get high and not for medicinal reasons.
Barbara,The wrong way driver had a 7 and 4 year old with him.Kids that age usually have no say so when their parents are driving them somewhere.The other adults who perished were driving in their own lane.
All of you are forgetting the adults at the party that let this man leave with the two children. I use to have some outragous parties when I was younger and I had one rule that everyone agreed to, if you where too drunk or stoned to drive you surrendered your keys and I would lock them in my safe and you spent the night. I had lots of extra pillows and blankets and if you did not agree to those terms you did not party. Some times we would have to forcefully remove someones keys and they would cuss me at the time but in the morning they would apologize and no one ever died after one of my parties.
Are you seriously trying to compare an automobile....the machine by which we couldn't possibly do without for work, shopping, delivery of goods, etc, to a weapon that is used for nothing more than shooting 200 bullets in 60 seconds, something which is shown to be absolutely no use to an ordinary citizen other than the mass destruction of people? What an idiotic comparison....please try again.
Pathetic point by a Prohibitionist. My father was killed by a drunk driver when I was FIVE.
How many family members have you lost to pot? ZERO?
Thought so. Get back to us when you have a clue.
How many family members have you lost to pot? ZERO?
==================================
How would one know? From what I've read, law enforcement officials in the states that legalized pot are at odds on how to test individuals for its use in accident or traffic violation situations, apparently there is no easily administered and effective test that can be used at the scene. There is also disagreement about how to determine how much is too much from results of blood tests administered, and that the effects of pot wear off more quickly than those from alchohol, so that by the time the individual can be taken to the hospital and tested, it is not an accurate indicator of the individual's condition while actually driving.
You can consume alcohol slowly and responsibility without abusing it, i.e., getting high, but the whole purpose of smoking pot is to get high, that is a big difference. Still, there are those that abuse alcohol, and our courts have to stop being lenient with these people; revoke their licenses (have to go to work, try a bicycle or carpool), fines and even imprisonment. I will say the incidence of DUIs around here has droppped considerably, we have periodic roadblocks and such, and people are getting smarter about drinking and driving. Frankly, if you want to smoke pot, I don't give a damn, just don't drive, because you are no better than a drunk.
the major difference, stevefoo, is that alcohol is socially acceptable and guns arent. alcohol kills more people, innocent children included, than bullets every year in our country. and that will never change. the statistics are fact.
Not true. Shows how much you think you know.
Nobody i know smokes and drives. I know it's not as dangerous as drinking and driving, but it's still unsafe.
there's been a study publicized which found that states which legalize medical mj see a 9% decrease in highway fatalities. Don't know how it was done or how reliable, but interesting.
The article stated-
"Alcohol was a suspected factor in the crash, Ralston said.
Ohio State Patrol Sgt. Stan Jordan told the AP that investigators smelled liquor in the minivan that was going the wrong way and found a bottle of alcohol in the vehicle."
The OSP did not say that they smelled it on the driver or anyone else. As far as any of us know he got a bottle of Jack as a present and it broke during the crash. They didn't even say that the seal was broken on the bottle.
There is so much judging of people in these news stories based on twisted information and making it fact of a crime. As far as we know he was crocked or he was stone cold sober, we don't know. Stop trampling on the guy when he is no longer alive to defend himself. Luckily the kid that survived is 4 not 14. He will not be in a position to come across these comments about the driver who was possibly his father. I'm not saying the guy is a saint. I'm saying we don't know what happened and making these judgements without all the facts is wrong. Put yourself in his place.
to gnghc
You say guns are not socially acceptable.
In my friends and family section guns are very acceptable. We hunt, fish and have weapons for protection. It is a way of life. We do not brandish, display or talk outside our circle about weapons. Everyone in our group that uses or carries is trained and careful. Those in our family that do not want to carry or hunt still know what a gun is and know how to properly handle and unnload a gun. Safety is number one. Even our grandchildren know what to do if they see a gun. the young ones don't touch, the older ones secure and notify. And I don't mean at our houses. You won't see loaded guns laying around at our houses. In my over 50 years of hunting and being around guns, we have not had one problem with firearms. I am sure most of te 85 million homes that have guns experience the same thing I have. Knowledge conveys safety.
Fred Evil
You think smoking pot and driving is not an issue. How many dead and injuried drivers have you pulled from cars that later had pot or other drugs in their systems and there was no other explanation for the accident? How many dead and injured children and babies have you pulled from these same drivers cars or the car they struck. I have seen hundreds in over 30+ years and I am just a volunteer who does not work 40 hours a week. Alcohol is bad enough. A lot of people are finally wising up to alcohol but seem to think pot is okay. It still affects the brain and response time. In Virginia any level of pot gets a conviction of DUID. There is no clear way of stting a limit like alcohol at .08%. Maybe Washington State will be able to do the research to get a limit set then we will know.
This is true, but given the existing facts would you care to wager a fiver? I certainly wouldn't bet on him being sober.
You need to work on your reading comprehension. Studies have shown that cannabis IS safer than alcohol, but if you re-read my post, you'll find I said:
Driving under the influence of ANY substance is stupid and should be illegal, but in FACT, cannabis is not as incapacitating as alcohol is, but you are right, we need to find a means to field-test folks.
Fred you're in my brain track..I was going to say that good thing he wasn't smoking weed, could have been much worse. Merry freakin' Christmas, eh?
I'm sorry to say that when I saw the headline, I immediately pinpointed the collision to a Midwestern state before even reading the article.
StandUpJerkOff. Just why would this be any different than any other area of the country?
Yes, New York had a very similar wrong way crash a few years back. Adult with children and an empty bottle of liquor.
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/diane_schuler/index.html
'fraid so jenk, take care, and drive wisely no matter what you're celebrating with, eh?
;)
Another Terrible Tragedy. May The LORD Comfort All Who are Affected. Come on Libs. Where are All the Cries to Ban Alcohol? Alcohol KILLS as Many or More People in Alcohol Related Deaths as Guns. What about Cars? They're "deadly" if you look at Statistics. What about Tobacco? And GOD Forbid anyone mention DEATH by Abortion. Hypocrisy Reigns. Ban One, Ban them All or Stop you Pitiful Whining.
Yeah, its all the libs fault, and they are the only ones crying. Get real.
Such a pathetically @!$%#ing stupid argument, Alan.
Drinking and Driving is already illegal.
Smith Cassidy, the only thing stupid here is your logic. While I don't agree with Alan, his logic is correct. Murder with a handgun is illegal also, just as is drinking and driving, but it is handguns liberals are calling to ban, not alcohol. Why is that? Because liberals enjoy their alcohol and they don't want anything they enjoy taken away from them even though its irresponsible use results in far more deaths than does the irresponsible use of handguns.
Really Alan isn't it a little early to be ....................? Never mind I don't want to get suspended.
Alan, did you know that gangs began to thrive during the prohibition? They're doing well now with drugs and prostitution, both of which are illegal. I suppose you'd like to add alcohol to the list of stuff gangs can deal in? Hint: Prohibition didn't work.
Alan is one of those loser who DESPERATELY wants to avoid the fact that Newtown was caused by GUNS so he has to blow smoke to try to convince us. Hopefully he's at least convinced himself because I'm nowhere near to being convinced.
Why waste people's time with comments that might have been written by a chimp? OK, a RW chimp.
Because it is a valid argument. It's just you libtards only want to ban things you don't like. If you ban guns, don't you think "gangs" will rule all the guns like alcohol in the 30's. Alcohol kills alot more than guns do.
Sorry, CRB, Alan's rant and "logic" have nothing to do with one another. His argument was fallacy after fallacy. You would see that if you had any idea what logic was.
Who is calling for an all-out handgun ban as opposed to assault weapons and extended clips?
How many people set out on purpose to drink, drive, and commit mass murder?
No, they do have everything to do with one another. Alcohol is intended to intoxicate; it has no other purpose. It has no medical benefit. No one needs to drink; no one needs to get drunk. By that standard, it should be outlawed. And I say that as an occasional social drinker.
Very good. And why is that?
What does the intent of "on purpose" have to do with it? Are those kids in that mini van any less dead because their dad didn't do it "on purpose"? Are those deaths any less tragic than those in CT because the driver didn't do it "on purpose"?
And yes, his logic is valid in that he drew a valid equivalency.
No, alcohol and guns do not have "everything" to do with one another.
Ok, alcohol is intended to intoxicate. And? Guns only have 1 purpose: to kill. Intoxication and Death are the same in your world?
So then should sugar, coffee, cookies and a lot of other things be outlawed, by your 'standard'.
It's the difference between an accident and an objective. Nobody walks into an area with a lot of people and starts shooting them by accident.
I'd say the difference is quite large.
Car accidents happen every day without the aid of alcohol, and a lot of people survive them.
No, as soon as he started comparing alcohol, cars, tobacco and abortion to firearms, he left reason and logic behind and embraced rhetoric and hyperbole.
SmithCassidy: You are the kind of person that I get up and walk away from when they open their mouth and start yakking. There is zero difference in what happened in CT and this car crash. Both were perpetrated by a deranged person who had no regard for human life and destroyed the lives of multiple people and families because of their actions. Over ten thousand people die every year because of drunk driving and you are too stupid to see the similiarities. They take many innocent lives and most who live don't even serve time. Those who do typically do less than a year's time. They won't have a license but they will drive anyway, often drunk as a skunk, and kill again.
You know all those news stories where someone accidently drives through a storefront? Well, some day some deranged creep, high on dope and alcohol, bent on revenging some trivial event in his life, is going to take a bus or Mack truck and drive through a crowded restaurant or shopping plaza and take out several dozen lives. Whatch gonna say then, Mr. philosopher? Will you call for a ban on big trucks near busy gatherings? I don't think so, I think you'll say it was an accident and shrug your shoulders and walk away. Sheesh!
You know all those news stories
@SmithCassidy
Yea, and a lot of good THAT ban does, eh?
(Not defending anything), but can one pretty well get an idea here, how gun bans will get about as much respect as any other ban we have here in the U.S.?
"No, they do have everything to do with one another. Alcohol is intended to intoxicate; it has no other purpose. It has no medical benefit. No one needs to drink; no one needs to get drunk. By that standard, it should be outlawed. And I say that as an occasional social drinker."
Ethanol has so many uses. To say it has no medical benefits is false. What do you think the main ingredient in hand sanitizer is?
imnotlost, I mean no disrespect, but to start off two plus paragraphs addressed to me with the above observation seems a bit odd, doesn't it?
Is that so? Then I would imagine you would argue there is zero difference between what happened in Connecticut and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, right? Then we're a step away from 9/11.
You have no proof of that. One person was drunk, the other set out to kill. Have you ever been drunk? Have you ever had a buzz and driven? If so, you are admitting you are no better than Adam Lanza.
If I'm stupid, yet you're the one putting forth arguments a 10 year old could beat, what does that make you?
And it's actually closer to 30,000 people dying from drunk drivers per year, with approximately another 40,000 dying from alcohol-related illnesses.
And let's not even talk about the hundreds of thousands of people who die each year from tobacco.
Still, if you take the population of gun owners divided by the number of gun-related deaths, I'm thinking you're going to come up with a relatively high percentage of deaths per owner.
Similarly, if you take the number of people who drive and divide that by the number of people killed in auto-related accidents each year, I'm going to guess the number is relatively low.
Further, if you take the number of people who drink alcohol and divide that number by the number of alcohol and automobile related deaths that occur each year, I'm going to guess the number is going to be smaller still.
And regardless of me validating an illogical argument - the Red Herring Fallacy - by debating it, I can still defeat it. That's pretty sad.
You had to throw 'dope' in there for some sort of effect, as if alcohol isn't bad enough? What kind of dope are we talking about?
Did we call for a ban on planes after 9/11? Or did we make changes and step up security and use that as an excuse to create Homeland Security?
Still, I'm wasting my time because your argument - beyond lacking thought - is flawed from the beginning. Nobody has any hope of banning all firearms, and that's why nobody is calling for a ban of all firearms. People are asking for a ban on assault weapons and clips beyond a certain capacity. Period.
NFIL- It was not Gangs that flourished with Prohibition. It was Organized Crime. The 2 are very different.
Al Capone never required a "Beat In" to join his Crime Syndicate for one.
Another senseless tragedy.
This is the most common accident,wrong way driver,due to over consumption of alcohol.My condolences to the deceased person's family's and speedy recovering for those who were injured.How people can get behind the wheel of a vehicle drunk especially when their children are passengers is unspeakable.
I'm sure his family feels horribly considering they either knowingly allowed him to take off drunk or that they couldn't tell he had been drinking.
They should put a picture of the victims of drunk-driving on bottles of Captain Jack, Bud, Reunite, etc. AFTER the accident.
But just like so many people who ignore reality, their right to drink is more important than everyone else's right to live.
Yea because warning labels have worked so well on alcohol and cigarettes so far.
@Guitarma: You are so absolutely right! Cigarettes in some countries are packaged with pics of cigarette "victims"; why not the blood and gore of the aftermath of alcohol related fatalities on liquor bottles and cans? It would be a 'sobering' reminder not to drink and drive.
Alcohol and alcoholics are so disgusting...
We will never ban alcohol. So let's unequivocally enforce strict DUI laws. And strengthen them. There is absolutely NO excuse to have inebriated people driving. None. I think Finland puts you in jail for a year if caught DUI. Can't afford to spend a year in jail? Don't drink and drive.
They have some heavy duty drunks in Finland.
http://www.helsinkitimes.org/index.php/finland/finland-news/from-the-finnish-press/2180-police-in-trouble-near-turku-large-number-of-drunk-drivers-stops-breath-testing
It's surprising, since they have the highest alcohol tax in Europe. Once I was across the border in St. Petersburg and my hotel's hallways were littered with drunken Fins on a booze tour.
I don't know what the answer is to drunk driving. If I say every car should have a built-in breathalyzer there will be people screaming about their personal freedoms, but I think neither prohibition nor higher cost will be a deterrent.
Desert Bill,I agree with you.If people knew they'd get 10 years in prison they'd stop getting behind the wheel of a car drunk.Those that still drink and drive with a lengthy prison sentence, I would feel no sympathy.
I remember being taught that driving is a privilege that can be revoked, not a right. I don't think a breathalyzer connected to every ignition is a great idea, but it beats the alternative.
fwiw although they smelled liquor and found an alcohol bottle at this point we do not have any BAC info and it is possible that although they were transporting the alcohol had not consumed any.
hate to admit it on this public venue, but shortly before xmas I was driving on a road I was familiar with and somehow managed to end up on the wrong side of the median--stone cold sober (I don't drink, don't smoke weed), not using a cell ph, not texting, broad daylight (but some snow fog). thankfully nobody was coming from the other direction and I was able to pull off the highway very quickly. every time I think about it I get the shakes about what could have happened. I live near 2 one-way arteries and not uncommon to see a car going the wrong way. so, it does happen.
drunk driving is bad enough, with the family too?! TRASH.
People should stay home on holidays. Plenty of time to travel on off days.
Do you know what day Christmas is? They were traveling on an off day.
Um, I was out on the highways yesterday. If that's an off day I'd hate to see a busy one. People are trying to get to their destinations BEFORE Christmas. That's how this stuff works......
Sure, everyone should stay home for the holidays and not spend time with family they may not get to see all year. Just so some selfish drunk jerk can get behind the wheel and kill innocent people. Maybe drunks should stay off the roadways instead.
Where is the liberal outrage, the rightful indignation, and the calls to ban alcohol over the senseless and entirely preventable deaths it causes at the hands of the irresponsible and selfish? I'll tell you where ... nowhere, because alcohol is something the liberals enjoy so you won't hear them calling for its ban. Alcohol causes more deaths every year than do guns.
And it's even more fun when you mix guns and alcohol, the way they do in that lovely Republican state of Arizona.
Oh, and some of the biggest drinkers I know are die-hard GOPers. This has absolutely nothing to do with party affiliation. Nice try, though.
Where is the outrage? Right here, thank you very much. The driver was beyond stupid and took a couple of kids with him. But NOT TWENTY-SIX FREAKING PEOPLE!!! But you're right, it's an OUTRAGE THAT PEOPLE LIKE YOU TRY TO USE THIS TO KEEP YOUR TOYS, Have you no shame or sense of propriety?
There, that enough outrage for you dude?
Since the CT incident there have been more than 26 alcohol related deaths in the US, so why are people like you not calling for a ban on alcohol?
And yes, I realize this is not a liberal/conservative issue ... the point was that it is predominantly liberals who are calling for a ban on handguns.
And Huh, anyone like you who considers a gun a toy should not be allowed to have one.
I don't drink alcohol but I'm not calling for its ban because I don't like it.
Yes, I have a sense of propriety. The fact, however, is that life is dangerous and it involves tragedy, especially when humans make decisions, and you can't legislate that fact away.
CRB-1660594,alcohol is not evil.It is the people who over imbibe and cause deaths,domestic disputes and sometimes incarceration.We can't ban ignorant people otherwise this would be a perfect world.
What we need is for everyone to drive on the wrong side of the road. Free for all.....makes just as much sense as every man, woman and child in the country walking around with an assault rifle, doesn't it?
It is a puzzling facet of human nature this running to close the barn doors when people see their horses outside...thinking that the correct action when taken before the accident will also work after the accident...the realistic observation is "I'm positive those people won't make this same mistake again"...
How sad for these families------Alcohol is a factor in more than 16,000 deaths per year. Firearm related deaths 7,500 per year----Why do we NOT work as hard to eliminate / control alcohol as we do for guns?
We tried to ban alcohol. It was called National Prohibition. Al Capone loved it. We try to ban weed and the Mexican criminals love it. We may try to ban guns and the criminals will just love it. Since alcohol ban did not work and Cannabis ban did not work isn't it stupid to think a gun ban will work?
Legislation cannot usurp the Iron Law of Prohibition which states the more intense the law enforcement, the more potent the prohibited substance becomes.
This law is based on the premise that whenever something is prohibited, it will be produced only in black markets in their most concentrated and powerful forms.
Because guns are made to kill. Alcohol is not. See the difference?
Pumbaa - I haven't heard anybody ask to ban guns. I've heard people asking to ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
thank you, NFIL. that is what i keep trying to figure out. i have never heard one word in the last week from people/politicians saying anything about taking away all guns. gun owners seem to just jump right to the extreme, thinking that means all guns will be illegal. no one has suggested that. i don't own a gun, i know 1 person that does own a gun. but, i want to make sure that my neighbor owned his with a background check, not have an assault weapon, or high-capacity magazine. why all of the drama from gun owners? get over it people, do the right thing and move on. no wonder other countries laugh at us.
Guns have multiple uses. Including feeding people, for protection from harm that can come from man or animal as well as sport. Guns can kill people but that is not the only use or the most frequent use.
Alcohol has multiple uses as well. Killing people is one of them.
Family in a car driving drunk!! As someone said... TRASH!
Way to be a responsible family! YOU allowed a drunk drive his family home!!
A senseless loss of precious lives...
The driver was drunk, not the "family."
BW... Let me be a little more specific. Drunk driver.... and I was referring to the family who threw the party. Relax...
Here's a quote from Fairfield, Ohio local news:
"Sgt. Jordan said the accident remains under investigation. But it appears that Nkansah was going northbound on I-75. Jordan said Nkansah made a U-turn on the highway around Franklin, and then started going southbound in the wrong lane. He said alcohol appeared to be a factor in the accident."
We need to add stricter charges to DUI's. Revoke DL's after the first with 5 years in prison and then if they are ever caught driving again 10 years in jail...again forever. DL's are a privilege NOT a right. And definitely not for killing others.
IMHO Drunk drivers are useless pieces of garbage that need to fall off the earth. If you drink and drive you are no better than any serial killer...maybe you get a kill tonight maybe you don't find the right one. Playing Russian Roulette with other peoples lives is no way to live...especially with YOU OWN CHILDREN.
If you can't have a sober driver then it is up to you to be the sober driver. If you can't find you way to get home then you shouldn't be out in the first place.
And plea bargains should not be allowed in DUI's.
Any DWI accident that causes a death should be permanent ban on drivers license.
permanent ban??? why? the person knew before s/he took the first drink that they were driving. this is nothing less than permeditated murder and should be treated as such by the courts. if the penalty for driving under the influence is painful i believe there will be far fewer such incidents as these. by the way, Sandy Hook lost 26 ppl all at once and everyone looked in horror...but because drunk driving incidents (and notice i didn't say accident because it isn't one...just a tragedy waiting to happen) usually take only a small number of lives at a time no one pays much attention.
Repeat DUI offenders have their drivers licenses revoked in California.The problem is that they still drive unlicensed and uninsured.I think that the first DUI offense should be 10 years in prison.Drunk drivers are bent on destroying others lives so I don't have any empathy if their life is put on hold for 10 years.
If the solution to tragedies like this were as simple as tougher drinking & driving laws, the problem would have been solved a long time ago (remember prohibition and how well that worked out?). I dare to say that the driver of the wrong way van had no intention of driving drunk when he left home that evening. Alcohol impairs judgement as well as driving skills, leading normally responsible people to get behind the wheel when they shouldn't. Seems to me the only way to effectively stop drunk drivers is to equip all vehicles with breath sensors that disable the starter when alcohol above a certain level is detected on the driver's breath.
So when is Obama going to make a speech while tearing up about how we need to ban alcohol? And with the stabbing in the casino in Vegas last night, will he make a speech about banning sharp pointy objects?
It isn't alcohol we need to ban. Clearly it is minivans that we need to ban. After all, the minivan killed these four people.
btcoates, he won't be, because that doesn't play to his audience. Besides, we all know he likes his alcohol. His beer is part of his down home, "one of you" image.
Seriously. People are dead and you're worried about your toys. How worthless and sad your lives are.
I don't own any toys. I own firearms. And people being dead doesn't mean life comes to a halt.
The constitution protects my right to own firearms. The founding fathers specifically included that right while specifically remaining non-declarative about countless others, so they felt it was important enough to specifically include. The Supreme Court has affirmed that right. That makes it a right worth defending.
The only life I see as worthless and sad is one in which someone refuses to defend his rights, and leaves it to others to do so for him or her.
This is a tragedy. I'm sure the driver had no intention on killing his kids nor anybody else when he got in the car. This was not premeditated, like majority of alchol related deaths. He just had too much to drink and it impaired his judgement like one of the intelligent posters on here stated. Nobody drunk plan on killing themselves, nor their passengers, nor anybody else for that matter. So no they should not be charged with premeditated murder. It is not the same. This is was an accident.
And for the record, President Obama called for there to be a ban on assualt weapons and on magazines weapons. He did not call for a ban own all hanguns. Personally, I believe in the right to own guns and hunting rifles, however semi-automatic and automatic weapons that fire 30 or more bullets a round, should be banned. Or on only military personnel and law enforcement officers should be the only ones authorized to used them.
Liberals are not trying to ban all handguns. So please quit spouting false facts. There are a lot of liberals who believe in and support the second amendment to the fullest. They will forever defend it along with all of our other constituional rights. Just as there are conservatives who are against the second amendment and dont believe that private ciitizens should be allowed to own handguns. So we can leave political parties out of this.
The drunk driver is responsible just like shooters of the mass killings are responsible, not the guns, not the alchol. Handguns niether should alcohol be banned. People should be held accountable for their actions. This the bottom line.
Another thing the punishment for consecutives DWIs is a revocation of a driver's license. And you can to prison and serve some serious times and you can be charged with murder. So the penalties are severe and already in place. So some of you posters need to some more research. People are already in prison and serving a ten-year sentence for drunk driving and killing several people. You all need to check out your state laws and see their punishment for achol related deaths. The comments you all are making are idiotic because most of those penalties are already in place and already being practiced.
Another terrible tragedy. My sympathies to the family who was not driving drunk. To the drunk family driving the wrong way - what were you thinking? The drunk driver has already paid his price, but it's a sad price he inflicted upon an innocent family.
My sympathys to both families involved. Not to the driver though. Bad misjudgement on his part.
Time to ban mini vans
time to ban alcohol. its a crutch just like religion used by weak willed addicts.
Tried it, it doesn't work. Only makes gangs and black markets thrive and grow. See Mexican Cartels / cannabis today.
fuking dumbasssses, we need an end to the world
@Phast, lead the way! Please do not use a gun, the NRA does not need to be blamed for YOUR actions.
Prohibition laws are the wheat fields of the Congress, Courts and Lawyers...whatever you sow that you shall reap don't you know...
F-ing drunk drivers. Too bad the guy who caused the accident didn't live so he could spend the rest of his life in a cage. Alcohol stinks, tastes bad, and makes people act stupid -- why do so many people drink it?
There are way too many Mini Vans on the roads of America. There needs to be stricter control on these things. Or better yet, BAN all Mini Vans!
snicker! Another good point. A recent joint study by the Department of Health and the Department of Motor Vehicles determined that almost 1/4 of all traffic accidents are alcohol-related.
That means that over 75% of all traffic accidents are caused by people who don't drink alcoholic beverages!
Let's BAN all soda's, sports drinks, water, coffee, and all other non-alcholic products and make the roads a safer place!
If you don't understand the difference between a mini van and something that was designed, manufactured, and purchased with the intent to kill... I can't help you.
You people are taking these machinations of humanity all too seriously...to be a god you must be able to enjoy watching humanity...
The single, most important thing anyone will ever do in their life, is driving a car!
Whenever you get behind the wheel, you are taking your life, your passengers lives, and the lives of everyone else around you in your hands.
Solomon -
I don't know...breathing is pretty high on my list...
I've never driven while under the influence, so I do not understand how a person who has been drinking or taking drugs can drive in the wrong direction on a highway.
The other thing is, when I have driven long distances, I have always been aware of the lights on the other side of the highway. I cannot imagine NOT seeing a car coming directly at me.
Even when I am totally wasted, I have my wits-about-me. Maybe it is a genetic gift.
Koatz -
"Even when I am totally wasted, I have my wits-about-me."
Of course...but can you use them?
"Maybe it is a genetic gift."
Yes, delusion is a genetic gift...and when you die...poof...
I see the NRA is out in force today trying to use another tragedy to sell more guns. You have to be pretty sick to use the tragic deaths in this accident to further your desire to have more guns.
@Huh? No leave my guns alone and no one is trying to sell more guns, do not lump us all together, that kid was a mental case, and his family should have never let him be around NON secured guns.