Today marks the 25th anniversary of the worst drunk driving accident in the United States. On the evening of May 14, 1988 a man with a blood alcohol level of .21 drove his truck going the wrong way on the expressway, and crashed into a school bus carrying 67 passengers- the majority of them children- that was returning home from a church youth group trip to an amusement park.
While the force of the hit did not cause much injury to the passengers, the gas tank ignited. Panicked children and chaperones tried to escape the inferno through the small emergency exit at the back of the bus. 24 children and 3 adults burned to death inside the bus. 34 of the survivors were injured and suffered burns, many of them severe.
In 1990, Larry Mahoney was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, and released after 9 years. The Carrollton bus crash was covered by the national media, by People magazine, gave prominence to MADD, and a documentary was also recently released about it. Much more info here. I chose not to add any pictures of the accident, as they are quite disturbing and I would rather people read this than be turned off and skip it.
I was in 7th grade when this happened. Many of the kids were my age. The accident occurred 45 miles to the north of me, and the small town of 22,000 that said goodbye to 27 of their own in a matter of minutes is located 35 miles to the south of me. This was a huge event in my childhood. Through the years I have met several people who were affected by the bus accident- some were survivors and some had lost someone close to them.
Today, the NTSB recommended that all 50 states adopt a blood-alcohol cutoff of .05 in hopes of cutting down on drunk driving.
What are your thoughts, campers? Have you been affected by DUI? Ever been tempted to drive drunk? Have you done so and been caught? Do you know when you've had enough- do you know when to say when?
Do you think lowering the BAC will have any effect on the number of drunk drivers out on the road? Do we need harsher penalties? Is anyone here actively involved in MADD?
Campers outside of the US, what are the DUI laws like where you are?