Teen heart throb Justin Beiber is the latest high profile star to be arrested for DW. He was drag racingI in Miami Beach at 4 a.m. this morning when he was pulled over. Police couldn’t help but notice his car, a yellow Lamborghini, racing a hip-hop singer in his red Ferrari going 60 in a 30 zone on a residential street.
Beiber cursed at the police officer and refused to get out of his car. The officer said that the pop star reeked of alcohol. Beiber denied that he was intoxicated but admitted to drinking one beer, smoking marijuana all day, and being on an anti-depressant. He did not have a valid driver’s license on him.
Now I know nothing about him other than from watching his movie at home with my family a few years ago.
But as a personal injury attorney I unfortunately have to represent a lot of people who are harmed by intoxicated drivers — often young.
More than 6,600 impaired drivers are involved in fatal collisions each year and 10,000 people are killed, with about half caused by drivers whose BACs are up to .16%. That’s two times the legal limit in Texas.
Drivers younger than 26 cause the most auto fatalities in the United States and 21% of young drivers involved in a fatal accident have some alcohol in their system — much higher than in other age groups. Studies have shown that even a small amount of alcohol interferes with a person’s ability to concentrate. And for younger, less experienced drivers, even one drink can cause the loss of reaction time that might prove fatal.
What are Beiber’s young impressionable fans supposed to think – that drinking and doing drugs while driving and probably crashing into other motorists is cool?
Meanwhile, the jury in Dallas is deliberating the sentence of another young man,former Cowboy Josh Brent. I hope they give him the maximum 20 year sentence — even with his defense today that his sad, sad upbringing made him get so drunk that he had to crash his Mercedes and kill his best friend. It was revealed yesterday that the deceased’s wife had just delivered their first child before the crash.
I settled a case today where a man was seriously hurt because his 20 year old drunk driver ran into a car parked on the street at 3:00 a.m.
And I’m working hard on the Ethan Couch civil lawsuit, where my client is will tragically be crippled the rest of his life due to this 16 year old driving with a blood alcohol limit three times the limit — if he were 21.
Think there’s any connection?
We’ve got to get the message out that drinking/using drugs and driving is illegal and possibly deadly or life-changing behavior. Locking up these two guys would be a good start.
Related posts about that heartbreaking story and DWIs by young people are below.