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DUIs have great affect on county residents
Jul 04, 2010
By MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN, Staff Writer
The crime of driving under the influence has had a remarkable affect on the lives of residents of Chester County, as shown by the responses to a question posed by the Daily Local News.
“Have you or a loved one been affected by an arrest for DUI?” we asked our readers. Readers then made comments on the Daily Local News Web site, or sent e-mails to a reporter with on-the-record or anonymous thoughts, some brief, some lengthy. Some readers who responded were interviewed individually in follow-up telephone calls.
Those who responded had a range of reactions, from anger to introspection to criticism.
“There is no rehabilitation in Chester County Prison for those guys whatsoever,” said a Downingtown woman whose husband spent a year in jail for his drunk driving conviction.
Said an East Brandywine woman whose brother was killed 10 years ago by a drunk driver, “The day that happened was the last day I ever drank (alcohol). My family and I are all still dealing with it. It is still very raw.”
A Malvern man wrote by e-mail that, “My answer to the question, ‘does jail time work to discourage repeat DUI offenses?’ I would say emphatically yes, if the individual is willing to change.” He spoke from experience, having spent 15 days in prison for his second DUI.
And then there was the man named Rick who responded that the program he went through after his DUI arrest was “a joke,” adding, “Have I driven under the influence since? Probably. I have talked my way out of them. And avoided driving in DUI checkpoints because they are known areas.”
The number of motorists in Chester County who have been arrested and charged with driving under the influence has risen steadily over the years. From numbers in the hundreds in the mid-to-late late 1980s, when mandatory sentences for DUI came into law, the figures are now in the thousands.
In 2000, there were 1,699 DUI arrests in the county, according to the state’s Uniform Crime Statistics. In 2004, the number had risen to 2,126; and by 2008, the last year for which statistics are available, it had gone up to 2,194.
Statewide, there were 45,000 DUI arrests in 2004, and more than 56,000 arrests in 2008.
Every week, the criminal caseloads of Common Pleas Court judges in the county are filled with DUI cases – first arrests, second arrests, and more. On Tuesdays, new offenders line up in court to be granted entrance into the county’s diversionary sentencing program, known as Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD). Their numbers sometime exceed 20 at a time.
While those numbers have increased in part by the new standard for DUI convictions, which saw the legal limit drop from a blood alcohol count (BAC) of .10 to .08, the numbers of persons involved in alcohol-related fatalities has dropped statewide.
In 2000, out of 1,520 fatal accidents 582 involved drivers whose BAC was .08 of greater. In 2008, the number had dropped to 496.
“The laws against driving under the influence are safety laws,” said First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody, who oversees approvals of drivers into the ARD program. “They act as a deterrent, because if one persons hesitates from driving drunk because of the penalties they face, that might save a life.”
“The penalties on DUI laws could be greatly increased,” Carmody added. “Any measure that we can do to try to fight drink driving, by expending or more strictly enforcing DUI laws, w should try.”
“Maureen” would agree. That is the pseudonym of a Daily Local News reader who responded to our on-line question. The woman said her husband had three DUI arrests in the 1990s, and a fourth in the mid-2000s.
“I just think that judges need to have more flexibility in mandatory sentences,” she said. “Just putting them in jail is probably making it worse, because there is no way to improve yourself in jail.”
Maureen said that after witnessing her husband’s problems, she changed her own behavior, even buying a mini-Breathalyzer to test herself. “People are more afraid of drinking and driving because of the penalties,” she said.
David, a 51-year-old analyst from Malvern, who asked that his last name not be used, said his brush with the law had profoundly affected his life.
“My drinking has cost me my marriage and family, my house, and almost my career,” he said in an e-mail message. “I have served over 15 months of a suspension of driving privileges with three months remaining before I can drive with an ignition Inter-lock System.
“I never dreamed I would end up in the Q-Block at Chester County Prison.” He added. “That’s the main prison not the work release facility, in which there is a huge difference when it comes to doing time.”
“During my time in prison I spent many hours reflecting on my actions that led me there, it was then and there that I decided that I needed to be accountable for those actions and take responsibility for the wreckage of my past,” David said. “I also was able to get sober prior to my jail time, which helped immensely.”
Mary, another reader who asked that her name be changed, said she had seen her husband face two DUIs. “I don’t think the jail time served was as inconvenient to him as all the other things he had to do: counseling, community service, paying fines, loss of license, driving with an Inter-lock,” he said. “That’s all it was to him: an inconvenience. He did what he had to do. Then several years later, after each DUI, he was back to the same drinking habits again.”
A reader known as JD wrote, “I’ve never been hit with a DUI but I was a victim of a drunk driver that required neurosurgery to survive when I was 18 years of age. I know people who have been charged with a DUI and the ones who were forced to attend classes are the ones who seemed to have responded best.
“I believe jail sentences should only be used on repeat offenders only after attending such courses,” JD continued. “If convicted a second time then they should attend such educational programs a couple of times a year. Only after this should they receive jail sentences.”
Angela Osborn, a Caln reader, said she that by the age of 26, she “had three DUI convictions under my belt. Facing an at-least six-month prison term for my third one, I found myself pregnant with my second child. I knew that I had to turn my life around. I forfeited custody of my seven year old to her father and faced giving birth to my second while being imprisoned.
“I had to prove myself to everyone. Prove that it wasn’t going to happen again. The community service, the fines, the probation, and all the time I lost with my children is quite a high price to pay.
Drinking and driving is wrong. The consequences are steep in order to help people change their behaviors,” Osborn said. “All in all, to this day, I have to include these convictions on job applications. Most importantly, I am only a part-time mom to my one daughter because of my bad choices. Her whole life was turned upside down because of me. Prayerfully, I know that I will be redeemed but it has not been easy, all because of drinking and driving.
Finally, Jessica Welsh, of East Brandywine, wrote of the pain her family suffered when a 26-year-old named John Joseph Patras struck and killed her 19-year-old brother, Ryan Welsh, while driving drunk.
Patras was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison, and was released after serving six years.
“To me this is not right, he took the life of a young man just starting out in adulthood and yet he can still see his family every day, start a career, have a family of his own, all things he took away from my family and my brother,” Welsh wrote. “He was 26 when he made the horrible decision to get behind the wheel that night.
“The system (is bad) for people like us,” Welsh continued. “We lost our family member but yet the man who took him got off easy in my eyes. He should still be in prison today instead of roaming free when my brother can’t.
“The laws are not harsh enough, the sentences are not long enough and the judges are not throwing the book at these people. It is a piece of the legal system that needs a major overhaul, to ensure that the punishment fits the crime,” she said.
To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan, send an e-mail to mrellahan@dailylocal.com
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