Disabled drunk
Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviors
Can someone be found guilty of DUI for driving a wheelchair while drunk?
The St. Petersburg Times (“Woman’s DUI case questions definition of vehicle” by Duane Bourne, December 14, 2004) reported that Cynthia Christensen was barely on the road when she collided with a passing Ford minivan. Christensen, 45, who suffers from degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis and scoliosis, was charged with DUI after a blood test showed her blood alcohol level was .12 per cent. She had been drinking beer when she rolled into the front yard of her home and, in an attempt to get unstuck out of fine sand, accelerated too quickly, hopping a 4-inch lip onto the street.
The problem is, nobody can figure out whether a wheelchair fits the definition of a “vehicle.” In a previous case, a wheelchair-bound drunk who rolled along in traffic had a DUI conviction overturned when he copped a plea for jaywalking.
The question as to whether Christensen is alcoholic should determine whether the law should be used in an attempt to coerce abstinence. Evidence of alcoholism, while not conclusive from this story alone, exists. She’s done a lot of damage to herself at a young age, although her physical troubles could be blamed on bad genes. While a BAL of .12 per cent does not suggest alcoholism for a college fraternity member, it does for a 45-year old, even if .15 per cent would be far more definite. And, she wheeled herself into her front yard while drunk, and landed in fine sand that she likely knew was there. From this incident, we should suspect alcoholism with, perhaps, a 75% level of confidence. In other words, we’d still give 25% odds that alcoholism fails to explain this rather bizarre incident.
However, this is not her only legal problem. She’s awaiting trial on charges of animal cruelty after allegedly biting the head off a python. If true, we can increase the odds to nearly 100% that alcoholism explains much of her life. And, she should be coerced into abstinence, before she does something else really stupid and hurts others, human or not, in the process.
Honorable Mention: Mistaken Identity
Story from December 5, 2004 issue of “This is True” by Randy Cassingham, with “tagline:”
“CANNONBALL RUN: Just 45 minutes after Theresa M. Wilson, 43, of Curtis, Wash., found her boyfriend with another woman, she says, she saw him driving on the road. She rammed his car three times and forced it off the road, state troopers say. “Oh my God, oh my God, that’s not my boyfriend,” she allegedly said after the crash — she had mistaken a stranger’s car for her boyfriend’s. Wilson was arrested and charged with assault. “We’ve got an anger management issue,” the arresting trooper said. (Olympia Olympian) …Gee, I can’t imagine why her boyfriend wanted to move on.”
About 85% of incidents of domestic violence are rooted in alcoholism. In my book Get Out of the Way! I make a case, based on studies of disruptive airline passengers, that alcoholics commit at least 80% of road rage. Evidence suggesting that the real issue is something other than a propensity to commit violence for its own sake is also found in several studies showing zero difference in the treatment of women by men between those who had completed domestic violence counseling programs and others, attending no course. The trooper, then, is likely identifying a symptom rather than the underlying cause.
The fact that there is no mention of DUI suggests she may not have been tested, which is all-too-common in traffic incidents. On the other hand, she may have been given the standard sobriety test and passed, which highly tolerant early-to-middle stage addicts can readily do. A third possibility is she’s an addict who was between drinking episodes. The fact that alcoholics are not high every time they commit domestic violence likely holds true for on-road misbehaviors.
(“This is True” is copyright 2005 by Randy Cassingham, used with permission. See http://www.thisistrue.com for free subscriptions.)