Kimberly Green could face up to 50 years in jail if she is convicted for her role in a Route 1 traffic accident last week.
And yet, she is the lucky one.
The 32-year-old Somerset woman survived. Kylie Pinheiro, 18, of Dayton, wasn’t so lucky.
That’s why the Middlesex County prosecutor has charged Ms. Green with aggravated manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the accident, in which she is alleged to have run a red light on Route 1 and crashed into the car in which Ms. Pinheiro was a passenger. Ms. Pinheiro’s cousins — Heather Pinheiro, 20, the driver, and Melissa Pinheiro, 21 — survived the wreck and were in serious condition as of Wednesday at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, according to police.
Assistant Prosecutor Nicholas Sewitch said Ms. Green tested at .159 blood-alcohol level, nearly twice the legal limit, after the accident.
Later the same day, three people were killed — including a woman from Plainsboro — when their minivan was struck on Route I-95 in Ewing by a pickup truck being driven by a North Carolina man. According to the State Police, Robert William Clarke of Gaston, N.C., was driving the wrong way in the northbound lanes of the highway after being involved in several other accidents the same night. State Police said an open container of alcohol was found in the pickup truck.
Then there’s the story of former New York Yankee Jim Leyritz, facing manslaughter and DUI charges in Florida, after an accident that took the life of a 30-year-old woman in Ford Lauderdale.
Unfortunately, these are not unusual occurrences. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 36 fatalities occurred per day on America’s roadways as a result of alcohol-related crashes between 2001 and 2005 — which accounts for 31 percent of all traffic deaths. The numbers increase during the holidays, with 45 deaths per day occurring during the Christmas period and 54 per day over the New Year’s holiday.
The tragedy is that none of these deaths should have occurred. The dangers of mixing alcohol and automobiles has become common knowledge — so common, in fact, that there should be no one out there who is not aware of the potential for catastrophe that drunken driving might cause. The NHTSA, the state and other organizations — such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Students Against Drunk Driving and the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence — regularly run advertising campaigns and law enforcement has made it a priority to keep drunken drivers off the road.
In addition, penalties have become pretty severe. A first offense carries a loss of driver’s license — of three months for blood-alcohol content of .08 to .1 and seven months to a year for blood-alcohol content of .1 or greater — and up to a 30-day jail sentence. Subsequent violations carry greater penalties: two years loss of license and up to 90 days in jail for a second offense and 10 years loss of license and up to 180 days in jail for a third offense. There also are fines and community-service requirements.
Law enforcement has done its job, as have the state and federal governments. There remains little they can do if someone is foolish enough to get behind the wheel after having a few drinks.
In the end, it is up to the rest of us. If you’ve been drinking, call a friend or call a cab. And if your friends have been drinking, take their keys. All of our lives may depend on it.
