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Friday, July 03, 2009
Stop Blame Game in Teens' Deaths
By Thomas J. Cole
Journal Staff Writer
This has been a sad week in Santa Fe.
You know why: Four teenagers were killed in a motor vehicle crash early Sunday on a dark, two-lane road just outside of town. The driver of the Jeep that hit the teens' car is suspected of being drunk.
You also know a lot of folks are angry. I am. I suspect you are, too.
Much of the anger has been directed at Scott Owens, 27, who police say was driving his Jeep on the wrong side of Old Las Vegas Highway.
But there has been a lot of other finger-pointing in the news media, over the Internet, on talk radio and, I suspect, at about any place where people gather in Santa Fe.
Targets include the driver of the teens' car (Was she driving in violation of a provisional license?) and the teen driver of a third vehicle (Did that driver sideswipe the Jeep before the collision, forcing it into the wrong lane?).
Owens' mother and the parents of the victims also have been on the receiving end of some harsh — and, at times, hateful — comments.
How good of a parent could Owens' mother have been, given how her son has turned out?
Why in the world would the teens' parents allow them to be out so late running around in a car?
A caller on talk radio even suggested the accident has attracted so much news coverage only because the victims were largely Anglo. DWI crashes that kill Hispanic teens don't get so much notice, he said.
It's time to tone it down.
I'll grant you that Owens isn't someone easy to have sympathy for. He's been convicted of DWI before and cited for having an open container in a motor vehicle and tossing a beer can out a window.
Then, there is the issue of whether he was smiling or smirking in that mug shot taken when he was booked into jail after the crash.
I'm not going to assume anything; you can make your own decision.
But we need to stop the rush to judgment on this guy, much less the attacks on his mother. We don't even know yet what level of alcohol was in his blood at the time of the collision.
We also need to stop the other finger-pointing.
We need to finish burying these kids. They need to be remembered and their families and friends consoled, not criticized.
Then we can get back to work.
Soon enough, we'll know more from the police about the factors that led to this tragedy, including where Owens may have purchased alcohol. The picture is far from complete at this point.
I am sure lessons will be learned from the accident and the blame portioned out. Owens could spend much or all of the rest of his life in prison.
We also all know the accident is part of the bigger problem of drinking and driving in this state.
Remarkable progress has been made in recent years, with alcohol- and drug-related fatalities dropping from 219 in 2004 to about 143 last year. Gov. Bill Richardson, who has pushed tougher enforcement and laws, deserves a lot of the credit.
In 2002, I co-wrote a series on the drunken-driving problem in New Mexico. What I learned is that aggressive law enforcement and swift and sure punishment are proven tools in the fight against DWI.
If you want to get involved, let me suggest a few things.
Research the DWI arrest rates of your local law enforcement agencies and ask them what they're doing this year to increase the rates. Hold accountable the elected officials responsible for law enforcement.
You can also research how DWI cases are disposed of, including dismissal rates. You can hold the prosecutors and judges accountable, too, when they face partisan or retention elections.
To help in the research, we have created a new category of DWI-related Web links at www.ABQjournal.com/watchdog.
There are also links to sites with information on other ways you can get involved in the fight against drunken driving.
It certainly would be one way to remember those kids and the other victims of DWI across this state.
UpFront is a daily front-page opinion column. Thom Cole can be reached in Santa Fe at (505) 992-6280 or at tcole@abqjournal.com
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