A woman was driving drunk in Lebanon in July 2011, when she rear-ended several vehicles at the intersection of East High and Cedar streets. One man was paralyzed, another killed, as well as that man's grandson, aged four. According to Lebanon police, the woman's blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the crash, an absolutely astounding fact. She had also apparently been travelling at 60 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone.
This woman had been arrested more than 12 times prior to the crash, mostly for charges of public intoxication, according to News Channel 5. She was wearing a court-ordered monitoring device on her ankle when the accident occurred, and her license has been revoked due to her prior DUI convictions. She had been convicted of a DUI just two months prior to this accident.
She pled guilty to various counts in August, including aggravated vehicular homicide, which can carry up to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law. She has been sentenced to 50 years and will be eligible for parole in 15.
This woman's pattern of DUI accidents has now been stopped, but it is tragic that it took so long and the harm of these three people to bring this about. Drunk drivers are a serious threat to all people -- drivers, pedestrians, cyclists -- on the road, as well as to themselves. The families who have lost loved ones due to this woman's driving cannot get their family members back, but fortunately, this woman will not be able to cause the loss of the lives of others due to her drunk driving.
Source: News Channel 5, "Woman sentenced to 50 years for deadly DUI crash," Oct. 16, 2012