‘What three guys think’ will be a running series on the 4+1 blog. It is exactly what it sounds like, derived mostly from group e-mail conversations between me and my two friends Yoon and Niel. I had a plan for unveiling the series more thoroughly, that will still happen. The tragedy of Nick Adenhart’s death took us by surprise and our discussion prompted me to start the series with this one. Our deepest regrets and respects go out to all those involved in this tragedy, and especially to the family members of those involved. This discussion is not comprehensive, nor is it meant to be. Just three guys, tossing their collective six cents into the bigger discussion. Please join us with any thoughts of your own in the comments below.
Yoon:
Damn: Nick Adenhart, a rookie pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, died after being involved in a car crash early Thursday morning, just hours after pitching in a game in Anaheim. (espn.com 4/9/09)
That is so effing sad.
[editor's note: many of these interactions take place in spare moments on work computers. We also are a family friendly blog here at 4+1. These two factors account for many of the modified obscenities]
Jake:
Wow. I can’t believe that. Do they know what happened?
Yoon:
He died in the accident that occurred shortly after midnight at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Lemon Street in Fullerton, said Lt. Craig Brower of the Fullerton Police Department. Several witnesses told police that the driver of a red minivan ran a red light at the intersection, hitting a silver Mitsubishi carrying four people. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, authorities said. Two others were taken to a nearby hospital, where a third person was later pronounced dead, Brower said. (Los Angeles Times, 4/9/09)
This intersection is well known to us O.C. folk. It’s close to Cal State Fullerton, where we used to go bowling and it’s near Niel’s and my brothers’ high school.
Jake:
I presume he was in the silver Mitsubishi. That’s so sad.
Yoon:
Yeah, it was an Eclipse, one of those sporty two-door cars.
Niel:
That is so effing terrible about Adenhart. I am in shock. So young. And apparently an effing drunk driver fled the scene but was later arrested. That guy is going to get stoned to death (or at least he would if it were Boston.)
So sad.
Yoon:
The driver was some 22 year old drunk kid from Riverside who was probably driving his mom’s Toyota Sienna last night.
Jake:
That makes me sick.
Niel:
Imagine if [young Dodger pitcher James] McDonald pitched on Friday and then died that night. That’s about what just happened to the Angels.
Yoon:
I’m feeling bad for the other two people who died and their families as well. Adenhart’s family is receiving all kinds of condolences.
Jake:
It is sad that a famous person has to have this happen for us to pay attention to it. This sort of thing happens all the time and we never hear anything about it.
I think drunk drivers who are in accidents like this one should never be able to drive again.
Talk about a devastating blow to a workplace. I don’t care what you do for work. That will throw everyone for a loop. Can you imagine if this happened to a co-worker and you were expected to perform your job the next day, in front of anyone in the area who had a tv? Some things I just don’t understand.
Yoon:
I think this driver will be in jail for at least 15 years.
I believe in a second chance though. Of course I would prefer the state installs a vapor lock to his car.
Jake:
I believe in a second chance at life, but for me driving shouldn’t be a sacred right. If you make a mistake like that, you’ve got to find another way to get around. I don’t think that’s too unreasonable.
Yoon:
Here is a possible scenario: a 22 year old dude is a straight A student, a great son, morally upright and all-around outstanding dude. Everyone he is around can’t help but love the guy because he is generous, caring and he is studying to be a doctor so that he can go be a missionary/doctor in Africa. He’s a great boyfriend and never cheats on his partner. On graduation night, he has one drink over the limit and runs a red light. This is the first time he has ever driven drunk.
Thirty minutes earlier, he was actually about to leave the bar to help his sick mother upstairs to her bedroom; she was on the first floor watching a recording of the Angels game, which she couldn’t watch live because she was in the hospital getting chemotherapy. The dude wanted to stay home to care for mom but she encouraged him to go out and celebrate. So as he’s about to leave the bar, a friend persuades him to have one more shot of whisky because the buddy won’t be seeing him again for 18 mos. – he’s off to Afghanistan to fight the fascist Taliban. So the dude obliges, has the shot and heads home.
As he’s crossing Lemon and Orangethorpe, the phone rings and it’s his mom, asking her son to bring home a bottle of orange juice, the only thing she can keep down in her gullet after a visit to the hospital. Unfortunately, he picks up the phone and misses the red light, striking the silver Mitsubishi with four passengers, one of whom is a major league pitcher.
He stumbles out of the car and sees the chaos he’s created. He panics and takes off running for a mile. He stops, wipes his tears and heads back toward the scene. The cops pick him up a block into his dead-man-walking toward the scene. He apologizes profusely and wishes that he’d have never gone out that night.
I say this guy deserves to drive again someday. Not anytime soon; he has to pay for what he’s done.
Niel [sent at approximately the same time as Namasté’s]:
Tricky, these questions are. A man has two beers and crashes because of a wet street, nothing happens. Three beers, same scenario, and he goes to jail.
Namasté:
Very succinct. But not as moving.
Jake:
I see your point about not judging a person’s character based on this, but I’m still not convinced. What is a driver’s license worth? I also think that the elderly should be given driving tests more often to test whether they’re still good enough drivers. You can’t bring back Adenhart or the other people in that car. I prefer preventative measures, and I also think that it’s easy to give second chances until something terrible happens again. Driving is a privilege. If you make an egregious mistake that involves taking someone else’s life, that privilege should no longer be yours. That’s my feeling.
And let’s be honest, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about here because I’ve never been in the situation. But maybe the guy shouldn’t be driving right after taking that last shot. I don’t know. And when he answered the phone was he using a hands-free set? Otherwise, that’s another ticket in the state of California. I know that’s minutiae in your hypothetical, but still.
Niel:
I am all for having safer roads. Fact is, I know the law, and if I don’t obey it, I should suffer the consequences. We certainly have an over-abundant sense of entitlement here in this country.
Having said that, Jake, I bet you 75% of people who drink regularly have driven over the legal limit at least once. It’s stupid. We know it. But 99% of the time you get away with it. So it’s harder for us to think “eff him! Put him away for life and never let him drive again!” Not saying that’s the wrong answer, just saying it’s tricky.
Yoon:
The guy probably shouldn’t be driving after his first few drinks but according to the state, as long as you’re under .08 BAC, you’re in the clear. One more drink and he’s over. That’s how blurry the line is, so to speak.
I’m just not for clear black and white decisions based on one mistake. That’s just me. I can see where you are coming from, in terms of the privilege of driving. But with the way that streets and freeways dominate the country, it’s really very difficult to get around without a car. That’s why so many undocumented immigrants still drive despite not having a driver’s license. In some cases, it’s necessary for survival if your only hope for a job is fifty miles away.
Jake:
I see your point about the unlicensed [and undocumented] immigrants. I’m all for finding a way for everyone who’s driving safely and seeking to better their lives to be able to drive. I hate the way the system is set up so the poorest (unlicensed, uninsured, etc) get picked on to pay exorbitant fines [compared to their means] even if they are driving safely.
I’m not trying to say that he’s a bad person, or that it won’t be difficult afterwards, but in my opinion that’s the clear line that needs to be drawn: when a life is taken, that’s it. I know that creates a very difficult situation for many people trying to work, but I think that’s a different issue, or one that needs to be addressed by them personally. You and I have found ways to get to work without a car much of the time Yoon, is it unreasonable to believe that others can’t find a way as well?
Yoon:
No, it isn’t unreasonable but don’t forget that we are privileged enough to live where we work. There many people who commute to Santa Barbara from Santa Maria, Lompoc, Oxnard, etc. and their commute is 1 hour by car. They can’t bike and they probably can’t find decent paying work close to their homes.
It’s all very tricky, as Niel said.
And is that where you draw the line, at death? What about a serious maiming like a collision that causes quadriplegia? It’s a slippery, slippery road.
Jake:
I know all about the difficulty of seeing things as clear cut/black and white. And that’s a good question you’ve raised. I don’t know. It seems that there could be a reasonable judgment made by someone who’s profession it is to judge such things in cases near or on the line, so to speak.
Tags: baseball, What three guys think
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