I hate Drunk Drivers

NguyenVanDon · Post by **NguyenVanDon** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:33 pm

Went fishing this morning with my uncle and my little bro around 4:30am. We were headed to Lake Ray Hubbard when we spotted a drunk driver. We were on I30 East Bound going towards Downtown Dallas near Loop 12 exit. The guy was driving a Ford Truck dark color either black or blue, but anyways he was swerving back and forth on all 3 lanes. He almost hit the concrete wall and side rail. He almost ram into an 18 wheeler about a foot, almost hit 2 other trucks trying to pass him up, a Toyota Mini Van with about 3 kids and the parents, and about 3 sedans. We kept our distance and tried to avoid him hitting us, especially when we are towing a boat.

I didn't know the exact phone number to report drunk drivers, so I dialed 911 to report it instead. I gave the dispatch the description of the truck, license plate number, and what direction he was going. Dispatch ask if I want to give my name, but instead I told her this was just an anonymous tip and that I was being a good samaritan. Dispatch said thanks a lot and told me they are going to radio an LEO to come and take him off the road. Two minutes later after I hung up the phone, 2 LEOs pulled up right behind him and lit up their lights.

I have never done this before, but it feels good because I feel like I saved a couple of lives today by calling it in. Hope the guy gets a hard penalty for doing this. This was a great way to start off Mother Days

Drive safe out there guys and have a Happy Mothers Day.

P.S. - Fishing was great! Hybrids are eating like crazy!

nitrogen · Post by **nitrogen** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:01 pm

I had a very good friend in High school get killed by a drunk driver, so I personally thank you for doing what you did to get this guy off the road.

I have nothing 10 year old daughter compliant to say about drunk drivers.

NguyenVanDon · Post by **NguyenVanDon** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:42 pm

nitrogen wrote:I had a very good friend in High school get killed by a drunk driver, so I personally thank you for doing what you did to get this guy off the road.

I have nothing 10 year old daughter compliant to say about drunk drivers.

Very sorry to hear about that.

I'm glad my families and friends have not been hurt by a drunk driver yet. I guess I consider myself the lucky one for now.

Wildscar · Post by **Wildscar** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:43 pm

Good work man.

I too was almost taken about one night by a drunk driver while I was on my bike. I was sitting at a stop light and he came blazing around the corner and nearly hit me then colided with the light pole about 10 ft from me. Not a fun night. But out of everything what got me the most is when the cops asked him how much he had to drink. He reply was "Only two sir,...But they where really big ones."

Needless to say I gave my info and showed up to testfiy aginst him in court. They get no sympathy from me.

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:02 pm

If I'm not mistaken, the reason they ask if you want to give your name ( and number) is so they can call you back and let you know the results. At least this is what they tell me when I dial 311, the non-emergency police contact number. Besides, they may want to give you an award or a reward for your diligent citizenship!

Thank you so much for doing what you did. There's no doubt you may have not only have saved the lives of people the drunk driver may have hit, but also it may lead to this guy getting some help dealing with his problem.

NguyenVanDon · Post by **NguyenVanDon** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:09 pm

O6nop wrote:If I'm not mistaken, the reason they ask if you want to give your name ( and number) is so they can call you back and let you know the results. At least this is what they tell me when I dial 311, the non-emergency police contact number. Besides, they may want to give you an award or a reward for your diligent citizenship!

Thank you so much for doing what you did. There's no doubt you may have not only have saved the lives of people the drunk driver may have hit, but also it may lead to this guy getting some help dealing with his problem.

A reward?!?! What the heck?!?! If I knew this I would have given my name and number LOL. Now I will remember to give my information for this next time.

txinvestigator · Post by **txinvestigator** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:16 pm

Good on you for calling.

No rewards for DWI's.

Did you mean Lake Ray Hubbard?

NguyenVanDon · Post by **NguyenVanDon** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:43 pm

txinvestigator wrote:Good on you for calling.

No rewards for DWI's.

Did you mean Lake Ray Hubbard?

Thanks!

Yeah sorry, typo lol. Lake Ray Hubbard is the place.

KD5NRH · Post by **KD5NRH** » Mon May 14, 2007 3:10 am

txinvestigator wrote:Good on you for calling.

No rewards for DWI's.

Not yet, but I bet a citizens' group would meet little resistance if they wanted to set something up. You could check with Crimestoppers for tips on setting up anonymous payouts, etc.

O6nop · Post by **O6nop** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:14 am

Our neighborhood area Commanders Forum (DPS) gives out recognition awards (non-monetary) for citizens that help out the police. So far, I've seen them hand one out to a guy that tackled a fleeing suspect in his yard and another guy who led a 'watch task force' that led to the closing of a crack-house/prostitution ring.
Hopefully, you knew I was being sarcastic about the reward... doing it for the sake of stopping a drunk driver without expecting credit deserves the highest commendation. Thanks again!

KD5NRH · Post by **KD5NRH** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:22 am

O6nop wrote:Hopefully, you knew I was being sarcastic about the reward... doing it for the sake of stopping a drunk driver without expecting credit deserves the highest commendation. Thanks again!

Offer $50 per driver that displays signs of impariment, and fails or refuses a breath test, and watch the college kids turn each other in for extra beer money. Integrity is a great thing, but money is a more effective motivator for a lot of folks who otherwise wouldn't dream of reporting someone.

jimlongley · Post by **jimlongley** » Mon May 14, 2007 11:44 am

Wildscar wrote:Good work man.

I too was almost taken about one night by a drunk driver while I was on my bike. I was sitting at a stop light and he came blazing around the corner and nearly hit me then colided with the light pole about 10 ft from me. Not a fun night. But out of everything what got me the most is when the cops asked him how much he had to drink. He reply was "Only two sir,...But they where really big ones." Needless to say I gave my info and showed up to testfiy aginst him in court. They get no sympathy from me.

I made a bad turn and wound up in the westbound lane going east. Stopped when I realized my error and was just about to start backing up to correct things when I was hit head on by a guy attempting to drag race with another car (I say attempting because the other guy wasn't racing) The police had a fun time figuring things out because when they arrived I was attending to the passenger in HIS car while he was running around threatening all kinds of mayhem. Initially they thought he had been driving my car and v/v. He had pushed a 3500 pound Merc Monterey 35 feet backwards with his 2400 pound Rambler.

Even after I got that part straightened out they arrested him for DWI, speed contest, and a couple of other things, and kind of gave me a pat as the ambulance transported me away and said "sorry about your car, the report number is . . ." while leading him away in cuffs. Doesn't pay to threaten the cops, particularly when you can smell the booze fifty feet away.

austin · Post by **austin** » Mon May 14, 2007 1:56 pm

You should stay on the line and assist.

The three times I have done this were 2 drunk drivers and the third was road racing.

In the drunk driver cases the 911 operators had me get behind the suspect(s), put my flashers on, occupy the middle lane or straddle them, and start a moving traffic stop to clear the freeway for the DPS and local PD.

In one case we started on 635 at the 75 split and the stop by DPS/Mckinney PD ended in Melissa at 121/75 with 7 squad cars. This incident was a large pickup with out of state tags full of men late one Friday night.

In the road racing incident we followed them from DNT/PGBT over to 75 then North. 911 used us to track the vehicles while local PD manned the off ramps. Us turned out to be three couples in three different vehicles and were all behind the cars. Two of the three vehicles ended up in accidents and a third tried to exit and was caught.

The road racing incident was extremely dangerous as the kids would slow down to get on line then drag race in and out of traffic. If I had had my F250 truck and not a small SUV I would have pulled in front of them and stopped them when they got on line.

I have a lot of respect for 911 and the PDs in North Texas. They seem to have their act together.

nitrogen · Post by **nitrogen** » Mon May 14, 2007 2:45 pm

how does 911 work on cellphones out here?

In the People's Republic of Kalifornia, where I used to live, all cellphone 911 calls went to the statewide CHP callcenter, and were routed from there. It was frequently busy and unreachable, you'd be on hold for anywhere from 2-10 mins.

I only have called 911 out here once, and got right to a dispatcher about an erattic driver who I did not wish to follow. (He was on the wrong side of the road, running traffic lights.)

seamusTX · Post by **seamusTX** » Mon May 14, 2007 2:54 pm

nitrogen wrote:how does 911 work on cellphones out here?

They're supposed to go to the local call center, but every now and then I read about a misdirected call that led to problems.

- Jim