{"id":931,"date":"2018-01-05T11:29:33","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T19:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/?p=931"},"modified":"2023-06-26T13:35:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T20:35:25","slug":"christmas-could-have-ended-far-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.piercecountywa.gov\/executive\/2018\/01\/05\/christmas-could-have-ended-far-differently\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas could have ended far differently"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have had way too many close calls with drunk drivers and have experienced the havoc they inflict on our community.\u00a0 I have been hit twice previously by drunk\/drugged drivers.\u00a0 Both occurred in the morning, neither had a valid license, and both were driving borrowed cars.\u00a0 Most shockingly, one had been driving under the influence the night before and decided to use PCP while on the way to get the car out of the impound lot.\u00a0 However, in both cases, I was not seriously hurt.\u00a0 I have also spent time with local families who have been devastated by the loss of a loved one to the scourge of DUI.\u00a0 On Christmas night, my family nearly joined their ranks.<\/p>\n

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My wife, two sons, and I were going home from the Artondale area after spending Christmas dinner with my cousins.\u00a0\u00a0 As I headed up Stone Drive NW toward SR 16, an RV came careening down 26th<\/sup> Ave NW by the Tacoma Narrows Airport.\u00a0 Fortunately, I was able to hit the brakes and veer across the oncoming lane to avoid the RV that didn\u2019t stop and barely navigated the turn onto Stone Dr NW.\u00a0 At first I thought it might have been ice on the roadway (not with Pierce County Roads on their de-icing mission!), but as I followed him while he swerved all over the road and hearing the debris he was dragging from the vehicle, I knew it was a drunk driver.<\/p>\n

I was on the line with 911 as his erratic course took him down the 24th<\/sup> Street NW on-ramp to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.\u00a0 Fortunately, most of the drivers saw him coming and were able to stay clear as he hit high speed and crossed over every lane on the bridge repeatedly.\u00a0 On the Tacoma side, I breathed easier as he started up the Jackson off-ramp.\u00a0 But then he made a sharp left turn, again crossing all lanes of traffic before thankfully stopping on the left shoulder, which was wide enough to keep him out of the roadway.<\/p>\n

Soon, we were joined by four Washington State Patrol (WSP) Troopers and two Gig Harbor Fire Medic units. \u00a0The driver was so high that he could not walk \u2013 it took two troopers to get him out of the RV and into the Medic unit.<\/p>\n

Here are my take-aways from this most recent experience:<\/p>\n