I witnessed such a case coming home from work driving down 635 Tuesday night. Some idiot in an SUV way up front was going at an uncontrolled 80 miles an hour or more veering from lane to lane, going left to right and back to the left again with no turn signals. It was amazing that no one got hit. What was even more astounding was how the driver managed to keep from hitting the white poles on the left side.
I said to myself, "If this guy kills someone, I really hope it's just him and no one else."
I was not only furious with the moron, but even more upset in wondering where the police officers were. It amazes me at how they always are around Galloway and Town East in Mesquite for speed traps in their little "constable" cars waiting to catch someone going over 30. Yet after midnight when someone is creating a hazard, there are no Dallas police to be seen. All they do is wait for someone like me driving a "red" car because the color "red" stands out from other cars.
As if watching this wasn't enough, that same night I saw a story on the Channel 4 news' website about a 2-year-old boy who was critically injured in a crash by a drunk driver, who already had a long history of driving drunk. Doctors said the toddler, who is on life support, had 80 percent of his brain destroyed.
The next day, I read that Arlington's Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor may begin selling beer in late March.
When it comes to alcohol consumption, I hate beer. I hate it. I hate the taste of it so much that I look at it as nothing more than urine (given its yellow color) mixed with yeast that causes people to develop giant guts. Granted, when it comes to margaritas or rum and coke, I can drink like a fish but at least I do it responsibly. If I am out with someone at a restaurant or bar and I want to gulp down four or five margaritas with no qualms about the $5 price tag, I'll do it as long as the other person stays sober and gets me home alive.When it comes to drunk driving, I will never understand how former jailbirds convicted of DUIs can sit there and boast about how they've done time in the slammer, like they are proud of it. I do not know how I will react if I ever run into someone who not only boasts about how they did jail time for a DUI but killed someone in the process.
I have no sympathy for drunk drivers. I do not care if the police officers caught them just once and don't do it again. There ought to be a no-second-chance law. If you get caught driving drunk, you will never be allowed to get behind the wheel the rest of your life and if you wind up killing someone, then you get sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
When it comes to granting alcoholic licenses to amusement parks like Six Flags Over Texas, city councils should take into consideration the number of alcohol-related fatalities and how more could occur if beer is served.
That's what Carl Fors of Fort Worth-based Texas Sober tried to prove during hearings with the Arlington City Council over the past year in an article in The Dallas Morning News. Fors said children make up a larger percentage of the crowd at Six Flags than they do at such entertainment venues as Ranger's Ballpark and Texas Stadium.
Granting Six Flags an alcohol license would automatically signal more alcohol-related incidents, including fatalities, Fors said in the article.
Six Flags spokeswoman Sharon Parker was quoted in the article saying other entertainment venues sell alcohol.
"Our sister park in San Antonio, as well as other entertainment venues throughout the state of Texas, have proven that you can serve beer - and in some cases other mixed beverages - and still provide a family-friendly atmosphere," Parker said.
I don't see how a family friendly atmosphere can be promoted if alcoholic beverages are sold in the park, even if it is at designated areas only. I wonder if anyone will feel differently if someone in the Six Flags area is killed by a drunk driver who had consumed alcoholic beverages while at the park?
With Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor being well on their way to selling alcohol, what is next? Selling it at movie theaters? It is bad enough I must deal with inconsiderate patrons who bring their one-year-old babies to the theater and allow them to cry throughout the whole movie. Just imagine what the atmosphere might be like if beer was served. I have a feeling patrons would have no problem paying the $5. They pay $5 anyway for a large drink.
What it all boils down to is money over safety. Amusement parks are more concerned with making a dollar. The ones who suffer are not going to be the patrons who shell out their cash to get plastered. It will be the ones who do not drink and who could become potential victims of someone else's recklessness.
©3/10/09
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