“Hubby hit a cow and wrecked our truck recently, officers on the scene wanted him to take a field sobriety test but he explained to them that he had a stroke a few years ago and his slight impairment would likely cause him to fail the test. He offered to do a breath test and he did, had not been drinking. He said the officers were very professional and did not question his not wanting to do the field sobriety, guess they had common sense.”
What was the legal consequences that the court imposed upon your husband? I suspect that there were none, but wanted to confirm. Until then, let’s take a look at the facts as you have presented them:
1. Your husband is an impaired driver every time he drives.
2. Your husband caused property damage that impacted someone’s livelihood.
3. The situation and result did not involve alcohol.
4. The result was worse than what most DUI arrested drivers have caused to others.
I am not an advocate of allowing impaired driving, however I am an advocate of taking appropriate punitive action against any driver that causes property or personal damage to any other party.
I had a friend killed on his morning commute to work by a lady that was texting and rear ended him at a speed of 45-60 mph. She never spent a day in jail. I also have a friend that received a DUI and spent 90 days in jail, he had never caused another person any property damage or bodily harm.
This clear difference has trained society to consider driving after consuming ANY alcohol to be very dangerous, and it can be. However, it has also made people think that other wreckless actions are not dangerous when driving.
While this situation has done much in the area of revenue collection, it has actually made the roads more dangerous.
Hubby is not an impaired driver, he is an impaired walker- he walks normally but cannot do the heel toe thing, or one foot at a time type thing- between being blown up and having a slight stroke his balance is not 100%. He is good to go on the rest. He was not charged with anything. Our insurance paid for the cow. People hit cows on the roads here at night all the time- we still have open range areas, hubby has only hit one in his lifetime so I don’t see him as a driving risk or a huge risk to cows. In fact hubby has only been in three wrecks- one a deputy sheriff ran a red light (not in pursuit) t-boned hubby, then about 10 years later hubby hit a deer- then recently the cow. Good you are concerned with property damage- when our livestock is killed on the road the driver usually flees and we don’t get paid but we would not do that to anyone else. You sure do assume a lot...