Diversity Is Strength! It`s Also…Drunk Driving
[Recently
by Brenda Walker:
The Sierra Club Toxifies Itself]
Thought for Cinco de Mayo: take
cover. America`s highways are becoming far more
dangerous because of
cultural differences—unassimilated foreigners who
believe that knocking down
10 beers before hitting the road is no problema.
And drunk driving is an accepted behavior among Mexicans
in particular.
Americans have changed their
outlook regarding this irresponsible activity over the
past few decades partly because of the commendable
consciousness-raising efforts of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). But there has
been no such
cultural shift among
Mexicans or in
Mexico. There are laws against drunk driving there,
but a small bribe to the arresting officer may be all
that is required to fix things. Mexico City police
actually
suspended breathalyzers and checkpoints on Christmas
Eve and New Year`s Eve last year, saying that drunks
would sleep it off before driving.
Traditionally, drinking to excess
is
valued in Mexican and Latin culture, where it is
seen an expression of machismo. Moreover, MADD
reports that Hispanics believe it takes 6-8 drinks
to affect driving, while Americans think it takes 2-4
drinks.
In 2001,
according to MADD, 44.1 percent of California`s
drunk driving arrests in 2001 were of Hispanics,
although Hispanics made up only 31.3 percent of the
state`s population.
The general incidence of drunk
driving has
worsened in California—parallel with the
skyrocketing Latino population. Accidents involving
drunk drivers increased overall
nearly 5 percent in the state in 2000, with an
uptick in Los Angeles County of 7.6 percent in that
year.
Motor vehicle crashes are the
leading cause of death for Hispanics ages 1-44.
Experts on the front lines agree
that
extreme drunkenness is not uncommon in DUI arrests
of Latinos. Austin police officer Robert Smith, who has
worked the late-night drunk patrol for over three years,
noted higher rates of blood alcohol: "One thing I
have noticed is that the Hispanics I arrest for DWI, 90
percent of the time, are more drunk than the white and
black people I arrest."
Assistant Dean at the University of
Texas School of Public Health in Dallas Raul Caetano put
it this way, "The profile of a drunk driver in
California is a young Hispanic male, and I bet you have
a similar situation all over the Southwest." He
referred to a national survey, saying, "The
traditional pattern of drinking in Mexico is one of
infrequent drinking of high amounts." [A
troubling trend: Hispanics and DWI Latinos account for
nearly half of 2002 Austin arrests By Claire Osborn
and Andy Alford
Austin American-Statesman Sunday, July 20, 2003]
Statistics from Austin support the
observations of these men: Of 3,007 drunken driving
arrests in 2002, 43 percent involved Hispanic men, even
though they comprised only about 11 percent of the
city`s driving population. And the story is similar
elsewhere: North Carolina drunk driving arrests of
Hispanics in 2000 amounted to 12.3 percent of the total
87,781 DUI arrests, while Latinos were 4.7 percent of
the population according to the Census.
Beyond the drunk driving statistics
are tragedies that have been devastating to American
families.
- Kenny Shackleford lost his
19-year-old son Christopher to a drunk-driving illegal
alien. "I view drunk drivers as highway
terrorists," Shackleford
said. "They`re terrorizing everybody, they`re
killing people right and left."
Christopher, an aspiring film maker
at Georgia State University, was one of three young
people who were killed when a car driven by a drunken
Mexican crossed the center line and crashed into them
head-on. Julieanne Pasco of Kennesaw and Miechelle
Bourgeois of Woodstock also died in the accident.
Illegal alien Sergio Montelongo-Sanchez
had more than twice the legal blood alcohol when he
caused the crash: he had
reportedly drunk 10 to 15 beers before driving. In
May 2001, Montelongo-Sanchez pleaded guilty to vehicular
homicide in the deaths of three people, DUI, reckless
driving, possession of alcohol by a minor, and several
other charges. For all that, he was sentenced to 45
years in prison.
- Tricia Taylor, 18, of Clarkston,
Michigan, and companion Noah Menard, were walking to
his car after attending a concert in Pontiac when both
were struck and severely injured by Jose Carcamo,
whose car was traveling between 50 and 75 miles per
hour on a street posted for 25 mph. One report stated
that Carcamo has had
17 violations since 1995. The INS had twice begun
deportation proceeding against Carcamo to return him
to El Salvador, but did not follow through.
In this crime, Carcamo was found to
have been driving under the influence, with a blood
alcohol level of .08.
As Tricia Taylor stated at
Carcamo`s sentencing, "What you give him won`t come
close to the sentence he gave me for the rest of my
life." She lost both legs above the knees [See
photo] and faces a life of pain and disability,
while Carcamo will serve only 3 to 5 years in prison.
Carcamo sent a
note of apology to Taylor and Menard, but misspelled
the names. She responded, "It hurts me every time I
see him. He acts like he`s sorry, but you`d think he
would know our names." She is not forgiving, either:
"I have my whole life with no legs … I`m only 18. He
gets no forgiveness."
- The tragic death of 18-year-old
Gary Selby in 1992 has been made even worse for
his family because Samuel Avalos Gallardo, the illegal
alien who killed him in a drunk-driving accident, was
mistakenly placed by the Nevada Department of
Corrections into minimum security incarceration and
escaped within six months of beginning his 40-year
sentence. Gallardo had been driving very drunk in the
wrong direction on Interstate 80, with blood alcohol
at three times the legal limit. He crashed head-on
into the car driven by Gary Selby and carrying three
passengers. Gary was killed immediately. His friends
survived but were badly injured.
Knowledge that the killer is free
somewhere has left the
Selby family`s wounds open. Gary`s aunt, Holly Bayol,
keeps up a remembrance website for her nephew, as she
holds on to the belief that Gallardo will be caught and
imprisoned, as justice requires. (Please imprint the
face of Samuel Avalos Gallardo on your memory and
notify the police if you see him.)
Americans have developed to the
point where they no longer condone drunk driving. But to
no avail. Illegal aliens with no such compunctions are
dangerously careening across our highways every day.
It`s worse than unfair to the victims of these lowlifes
who are so drunk they can`t find the right side of the
road.
Driving responsibly with your
seatbelt fastened in your fuel-efficient car won`t
help when a dead-drunk driver has his clunker barreling
straight for you at highway speed.
Our immigration disaster is turning
America into two (or more) nations, under
anarchy. American highway deaths because of
immigrant drunk driving are but one symptom.
Brenda Walker [email
her] lives in Northern
California and publishes
LimitsToGrowth and


