The court system in Indiana is trying something different in handling drunk drivers. DUI offenders are required to attend a court-mandated panel presentation at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
At this particular presentation the offenders heard a panel member tell of how her brother was killed by a DUI driver. Her story is all too familiar, lamenting the loss of her loved one and how he will never do this or do that and how the offender spent a token amount of time in jail and is now free to go wherever he/she wants.
I applaud them for their effort to find the elusive method of preventing future tragedy. This is definitely a step in the right direction but it still is not enough. We cannot settle for reaching a small percentage of offenders who still have enough common decency to not repeat their offense against the unsuspecting innocents on our roads.
This reporter did not mention whether this was a one time panel or something that every DUI offender will have to go through. Maybe there are additional aspects of this program that goes further towards preventing future tragedy than what was reported in this article, I don’t know because the reporter did not go into any specifics. If this is all there is to this program then it is falls short.
Six people who were ordered to attend this panel showed up intoxicated. The reporter did not mention how these people arrived at the meeting. Did they drive themselves? Did someone bring them? Did any of these offenders loose their privilege to drive as a result of their arrest? Did anyone ignore this opportunity and just not show up?
The six people who showed up intoxicated clearly don’t get it. Something more needs to be done to keep them off of our streets. And reporters need to paint a much clearer picture about what is being done.
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