San Antonio police officer Michael Thornton endured two deployments to Iraq as a soldier. He survived a blast from an improvised explosive device in 2006 that sent him to Brooke Army Medical Center with second- and third-degree burns. He almost lost his life in the line of duty on the streets of San Antonio. It wasn't an assailant with a gun who almost killed Thornton early one Saturday morning in January. Instead, according to police reports, it was a suspected drunken driver who plowed into Thornton's cruiser as he was assisting stranded motorists on an elevated downtown freeway, briefly pinning him between the two vehicles, then propelling him over the guardrail.
Thornton's strength and presence of mind kept him holding on to a guardrail to avoid what would likely have been a fatal fall until the motorists he was helping pulled him to safety. He lost his foot in the impact. Now doctors at BAMC are struggling to save his lower leg. The incident that altered and nearly ended Thornton's life is not unique. In 2009, Texas led the nation in DWI fatalities with 1,269 alcohol-related traffic deaths. Of those, 51 occurred in San Antonio.
The San Antonio Police Department has become much more aggressive in dealing with drunken drivers. Chief William McManus told the Express-News that officers made twice as many DWI arrests in 2010 than they did in 2009. District Attorney Susan Reed has also declared every weekend of 2011 will be a “no-refusal” weekend, meaning drivers suspected of being intoxicated who refuse breathalyzer tests will face mandatory blood draws.
But arrests don't necessarily keep drunken drivers off the road. A backlog of DWI cases in the state court system, with more than 6,000 cases pending in Bexar County, means many drivers are delaying or evading justice.
It's not clear if that was a factor in the Thornton case, though the driver charged with intoxication assault in the incident had two prior DWI charges on his record. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, 78,000 Texas motorists have three or more DWI convictions.
If leaders in Austin want to address an emergency issue other than the budget, then modifying the state's DWI laws — including a proposal from Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to require ignition interlock devices for first-time offenders — would be a good place to start. Drunken drivers represent serious threats to public safety, but increased fines and penalties aren't necessarily the answer.
Laws that keep drunks from getting behind the wheel offer more promise in dealing with the problem.
What is shocking about the incident that seriously injured Thornton is that it showed how great a menace impaired drivers are to everyone. If a police officer and his cruiser on the side of the road can be struck square-on, then anyone can be struck anywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment