AcceptingChange

<sigh>. Sad on so many levels.
His life, the lives of the deceased, the lives of the loved ones.

Benson sentence believed to be one of the toughest in state - JSOnline

suki44883

Very sad. And to think, that could have been any one of us. People have a way of thinking it could never happen to them, but it most certainly can. One split second and lives are changed forever. So sad.

CarolD

Prayers going out for everyone touched by this tragedy.

Faerie

That made me cry.

I really feel for the family and friends of the victims.

This is why I never drive if I have taken my tapering dose, too risky.

I am not prepared to put anyone else in danger.

Faerie

Mark75

So who is responsible?

I know, the surgeon....

What is it about this alcoholism thing that makes a surgeon, a man who trained his whole life to improve the lives of others, get behind the wheel of a vehicle, days after being charged with a previous DUI, and kill while driving drunk.

He should have known better.

He was in a program for years to help impaired physicians get and stay sober... yet his desire to drink was greater than his desire to remain in his profession.... his desire to be sober.... This alcoholism thing... I don't like this disease model.... He did what he did because he chose to.

Unfortunately, jail is the only thing left... we have to protect ourselves from people like him. He was given many second chances... He squandered them.... I am very pissed at him... So many people would have taken one of those second chances, but he just blew them off so he could pursue his selfish desires.

Mark

Em002

Cubile you said he should of know better?? Yes you would think, but our lives and the way we live as alcoholics is very dysfunction so at the time no we don't know better. When I'm in the obsession of alcohol and the insanity of alcoholism I don't know that its not okay to drive after drinking. I know I needed to drive all the time and I was under the influence all the time so put it together. Yes its a horrible tragedy but this could have honestly happened to me and I suspect most people here. For that I'm grateful that I'm sober today and don't need to live that way anymore and for some reason which I don't know this didn't happen to me.

suki44883

Yes, this could have happened to any one of us. There but for the grace of God go I. We all knew better when we got behind the wheel of a car after drinking. We never thought it could happen to us. Well, it most definitely can happen to anyone who chooses to drive after drinking. Let us not judge because, honestly, we are hypocrites if we do.

Mark75

OK...

Maybe I typed too soon after I read the news report.

It could have happened to me also... Maybe that's why I reacted the way I did. But damn it, he did choose to take that first drink... I wish we had an answer... Why?

Sorry if I offended anyone here...

There but for the grace of God...

Mark

wanttolive

This is kinda in my neck of the woods and I watched the sentencing hearing. It was long but preempted all out local channels. From what the judge was saying his drug usage started legit from painful surgery but somewhere along the line it progressed. He was I believe coming back from a dr appt where he had a spinal done for his back so he even had lidocane in his system along with many other drugs/alcohol. This was so tragic and totally unavoidable. He had such a tolerance that some people at the scene didn't notice impairment.

It is about time WI steps up there drunken driving laws. If you check statistics we are almost always in the top for alcohol related incidents including accidents and alcoholism. 1st time drunk drivers are basically getting a slap on the wrist beside their fine and license. But for work can be on the road 60 hrs a week. Heck we don't even require car insurance here. ( That is changing next june though.)

This guy had been in prior accidents as well under the influence. I believe this was his third DUI but the first got dismissed. (can anyone say money talks) So I think from what I've seen on the news he got what he deserved. The only way it would have been better is life in prison as we don't have the death penalty.

suki44883

Well, I don't believe in the death penalty, so prison is good enough. He'll have to think about what he did for a long time. But, before any of us get too smug, we need to realize it could have very well been us standing there before that judge.

wanttolive

I wasn't trying to be smug at all. I am very against drunk driving but that being said it could have been me on some occasions. I just think that if our state would toughen up some of the laws that it may help people to get a dd for a ride and not take the chance of going to jail for a dui. I am sure at one time the man had a brilliant mind to become a surgeon so let this be a lesson for all that drinking and driving don't mix well and an addict can come from any race or background. We are often stereotyped as living under bridges with a box and a paper bag of cheap booze. Through reading this site and looking at research on the internet my eyes have been opened. If someone feels the need to drink or get totally wasted that's thier business but when on the road it is everyones business. In the Benson case I think he will suffer more living a while in prison than he would with a death sentence anyway.

suki44883

I didn't mean YOU were being smug...it was a reminder to all of us. I apologize for saying it wrong.

sfgirl

I think the craziest thing about this story is that he wasn't drunk— he was high (ambien, xanax, oxycodone) which is much more difficult to prove. And he plead out. And he got 30 years.

I don't know. I think the sentence is a little absurd especially because he plead no contest. He should have got the 10-20 years his lawyer was asking for and a chance for redemption. It is a horrible tragedy that just seems to get worse with this sentence especially because stricter punishments has not been shown to significantly deter drunk or impaired driving. A more useful focus would be the enforcement of the current laws, catching the people who are actually offending, more sobriety checkpoints, more cops pulling people over, more responsible beverage service, etc.

Latte

For all the times that I was high and drove, there but for the grace of God...

My HP was watching out for me. HP is why I am still here today and still clean.

My prayers are with all of those people who were affected by this, and as always, a prayer for the addict/alcoholic who still suffers.

BDP

debs

Just....

Prayers are going out from Texas for sure.

hendershot

"it could have been me/any of us"= an empty aphorism in my opinion. Maybe because of luck, maybe God, but it wasn't me. That's just how it works out. I don't choose to stay sober because of fear I will hurt other people, driving or otherwise. That just isn't me. This is a tragedy for all involved, like many other similar ones. And it is possible to have empathy for the guy being an alcoholic and struggling and also recognize that killing people with a car is not part of my story. I choose not to live in the wreckage of the future, of the past, or of hypothetical things I could have done to others (but didn't). This is not smug. It doesn't make us better than/less than anyone else, just different alcoholics with different stories and pain.

spittake

I'm not sure. A case like this will make it clear to people that the warning on the label that says, "Do not operate a vehicle or machinery while taking this medication," is not just a formality. It is a component of the doctor's prescription; disobeying is going against medical advice and the consequences can be lethal.

This is a most salient example of how drinking isn't the only way to make driving significantly deadlier than it already is. I believe a lot of people don't take prescription drugs as seriously as is warranted. They think that if a doctor prescribes them, it's okay to take them any way they please, even though it defies the prescription.

The fact is, people died. What is more valuable to us as humans than our very lives? There is no way this guy can have sufficient penance for what he has taken away.

AcceptingChange

I drove drunk. I'm guilty. I'm just lucky, not better or more upright.
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That being said, a couple people brought up his penalty.
I don't have an opinion on what a just penalty is for this.
But i will say that I live about 10 miles from where this took place, and this story
was BIG news in Milwaukee. The poor woman and children he killed were very beautiful, and their smiling pictures covered the papers. It's my humble opinion that the outrage was amplified due to the unfortunate victims.
Also, WI is the #1 state for drunk driving, and they are taking active steps to not be #1. The newspaper (which just laid off 20% of it's employees) found an issue and is raising awareness (and paper sales) by running with this story.
The politicians gain street cred by backing the issue, because it's an all-win move for a politician to be "against people who drive drunk and kill others."

So this man, who had just been convicted of his 3rd DUI 5 days previously (literally!!) and had his driving priviledges revoked, was driving a brand new SUV and slammed into this poor woman's car as she waited at a stop sign.

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I don't know what a just punishment is, or what is the right course of action.
I just know that all of it is tragic, scary and makes me more likely to take the keys away from someone who's been drinking.