Word: drunks
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...growing protest against the soft treatment of drunk drivers...
...last summer, Tommy Sexton, 15, of Bowie, Md., and some neighbors were driving home after a day of fishing, when a car driven by David Watkins swerved into their lane and hit them. Sexton was killed. Watkins, who was drunk, suffered no injuries on the highway and a mere slap on the wrist in court. He received a two-year probationary sentence...
Such stories are frighteningly common. Someone is killed in a drunk-driving accident in the U.S. every 23 min., an annual toll of more than 26,000. Yet a drunk driver is rarely arrested, and the possibility of stiff punishment is remote...
...last, the American public's patience seems to be running out. Outraged parents of young victims have formed groups that are badgering legislators, police, prosecutors and judges to crack down on drunk drivers. One of the leaders of the movement is Candy Lightner, 35, of Fair Oaks, Calif. Fifteen months ago, shortly after one of her three children was killed by a drunk driver while walking in a bicycle lane, Lightner quit her job as a real estate agent to found Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). The organization now has 25 chapters in five states. Says...
Lobbying by MADD and similar organizations has already led several states to enact tougher laws, most of them dealing with sentencing. New York's legislature passed a bill providing a minimum $350 fine for a first drunk-driving offense ($250 even for those who bargain down to the lesser charge of "driving while ability is Impaired"). A major force behind the measure was Remove Intoxicated Drivers (RID), a group formed in 1978 by Doris Aiken, 52, with a $50 contribution from her church. Says she: "Last year each drunk driver in New York paid, on the average...