Last Updated on January 14, 2023 by CCAR Staff
You’re not invincible.
Ed Scott knows it, because his son is dead.
Eddie, 17, died June 5 last year. He and the driver of the vehicle he was in had inhaled nitrous oxide — laughing gas.
But within 13 minutes on the 10 Freeway, near where it intersects the 15, there would be no laughing.
Eddie and the driver of the car he was in passed out, Scott said. They lost control and crashed.
“My son was instantly killed,” said Scott, a former Rialto city councilman.
Instantly, it was another life, another lesson, in how one moment, and decision can change many lives.
Law enforcement across the Inland Empire have been out in force this week, saturating a region from Ontario to Redlands with DUI checkpoints and patrols as Labor Day weekend approaches, and revelers party. They’ll continue into the weekend.
And that’s why everyone from police to Scott are trying to get the message out.
“I guess my message to people would be, you’re not invincible,” Scott said. You make a poor choice, drinking or inhaling different types of drugs and the consequence can be very devastating. You could not only lose your life, but the lives of others.”
That law enforcement blitz is fueled by some key numbers.
In San Bernardino alone there have been 13 DUI deaths over the past three years.
• In 2013, out of 18 fatal wrecks, four were DUIs
• In 2014, out of 32 fatal wrecks, seven were alcohol-related and four were drug-related
• This year, out of 24 fatal wrecks, two were alcohol-related
That’s just in one Inland Empire city over three years, according to San Bernardino police Sgt. Vikki Cervantes.
Other cities can relate, and aren’t taking chances.
For instance, if you’re in Ontario on Sept. 5, between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., don’t be surprised if you see DUI enforcement teams stopping suspected alcohol and drug-impaired drivers.
On Labor Day weekend in 2013, authorities reported 424 crash deaths nationwide. Nearly half of those involved drivers who had been drinking, according to stats from the Ontario Police Department.
Men, according to authorities, are more likely than women to drive drunk. In 2013, 23 percent of men were drunk in alcohol-related crashes — 15 percent for women, according to an Office of Transportation Safety fact sheet.
So, police continue their efforts, and offer some wisdom when they can.
But does the message cut through?
“The numbers are higher than they should be,” Cervantes said. “With all the enforcement, the media, the education we’re putting out there. They are way higher than they should be.”
In the meantime, a father still remembering the loss of his son, tries to get the message through.
“When this happens, you can go two ways,” Scott said. “You can spend your life at the cemetery or try and make a difference.”
Some data, according to an Office of Transportation Safety fact sheet:
• It’s illegal to drive with a BAC (blood-alcohol concentration) of .08 or higher.
• 10,076 people were killed in drunken driving crashes in 2013, and 65 percent were the drunken drivers themselves.
• Among drivers between 18 and 34, who were killed in crashes over Labor Day weekend in 2013, 45 percent of those deaths involved a drunk driver with a BAC.
