Drunk driving is NOT okay!

     On Jan 7th we (Tyrone, Haleigh, and myself) were headed to a friend's house for another friend's birthday party. We were driving down the main road in town when Tyrone said "Oh God, watch this guy." I turned to my left and saw a white car speeding by us, almost side swiping Tyrone's side of the car. "Oh my God, he almost just hit us!" was all I could get out while we watched him cut off the car in front of us and speed in to the turning lane. A lane we usually would be in, if we were heading to my Grama's house. I thought to myself that there was no way he was going to make that turn going as fast as he was and sure enough, he didn't. He slammed in to a silver car on the other side of the road. He never even pressed on his breaks. He kept slamming on his gas making him and the car he was hitting sort of spin in a semi circle. After he broke free from that car he hit the gas and attempted to go OVER another car. By this time we were pretty much stopped in the middle of the road (along with many others) watching this happen. I rolled down my window and could hear a girl screaming "STOP, STOP, STOP!!!" Even while he was on top of the other car he was pressing down on the gas, trying to get away. It was so scary. I immediately called 911 to tell them what was happening. We pulled in to a near by gas station to wait for the cops/ambulances to arrive. I wanted to get out of the car and make sure every one was okay but Tyrone didn't want me to. He made a valid point "You don't know what he's capable of, look what he just did!" So I stood next to our car and watched. I saw everyone getting out of the cars that had been hit and they seemed okay. The first car that was hit had a baby in it, who seemed to be fine, when I told Tyrone this he jumped out of the car. That hit too close to home. This man had almost just hit us, with Haleigh in the car and then he hit a car with a baby in it. At that point I was pretty sure Tyrone was going to run out there and beat the crap out of the man who had just caused this accident. He was furious! He didn't, he has a good head on his shoulders. but I could see how angry he was. At this point the cops had showed up and I went to find one to see if they needed a witness statement. There were a lot of people there but I don't know if they were just gawking or if they were witnesses. Turns out the guy who caused the accident was very drunk and he had taken his dog out of the car (which was still on top of the other car) and walked away. I gave my statement to a cop who said I'd have to repeat it again to another cop, which was fine, and she took down my information in case they couldn't get it right then. While I waited for her to tell me if I could leave or if I needed to stay, I saw an older woman come running up the street and fall to her knees when she saw the accident. It was heartbreaking! She was the mother of the teenager who was in the car underneath the drunk driver's car. Him and his date both had gotten out of the car safely and were okay, traumatized, but okay. As the police officer was walking back to me and another witness we saw more police officers walking up the block with the drunk driver. I was glad that he was caught and I was furious at him. I do NOT understand why people drink and drive. I just don't understand it. If you want to kill yourself, whatever, but you are putting other people's lives at risk! Idiot! It still makes me so angry! I was told we could leave but I would possibly be getting a phone call asking for my statement. Once I sat down in the car I realized I was shaking. I was angry and scared. He came so close to hitting us seconds before he caused the accident. I was glad to finally get to my friend's house where we could just sit down and hug our little girl. It was a nerve wrecking experience but luckily everyone was okay - one person ended up in the hospital but only with minor injuries.

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I just read in the comments below this news article on Newsplex.com that he had just found out his son had died. Not that it is an excuse but that was the reason for him being so drunk. Any truth to this? I don't know.

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Newsplex

January 7, 2012
A four car crash at the intersection of Hydraulic Road and Route 29 early Saturday morning sent one man to the hospital and another to jail.
Donald Straus, of Albemarle County, was arrested for drunk driving. The 51-year-old's blood alcohol content was 0.15.
Police say Straus was turning from Route 29 onto Hydraulic Rd. when he hit multiple vehicles, driving over one car before getting ultimately coming to a stop on top of the vehicle.
"He tried to drive over top of the car. The car was the road to him and he kept going. His tire was in the windshield. The windshield was caving in and he just kept trying to get away," a witness told CBS19.
The driver and passenger in the car underneath were not injured, but they were shaken up on the scene.
"It's a parent's worst nightmare to get that call that your child has been in an accident. To find that it was someone who was allegedly drinking and driving and then tried to run from the accident; he is such a coward. My son is so brave," said the mother of the young driver.
One person from another vehicle was taken to University of Virginia Medical Center with minor injuries.

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