Children Taking the Wheel for Drunk Drivers

Posted on 27th May 2009 by gjohnson in Uncategorized

alchohol and driving, drunk driving, drunk driving deaths, DUI

Two stories follow:

Date: 5/27/2009

Police: Boy, 12, hits car while driving drunk dad

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Police have arrested a man they say sat drunk in the passenger seat of his SUV while he let his 12-year-old son drive. Authorities say the boy hit a pregnant woman’s car while making a turn.

Both vehicles had minor damage Saturday. No injuries were reported, but the woman asked to be taken to a hospital as a precaution. She was eight months pregnant.

Police say the boy’s father, 32-year-old Adrian Kegler, was clearly intoxicated. He wasn’t given a breathalyzer test because he wasn’t driving.

Before being released on bail, Kegler was charged with culpable negligence with actual injury. Kegler also was charged with permitting an unauthorized person to drive and child neglect.

A woman who answered the phone at Kegler’s house declined comment.

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Information from: St. Petersburg Times, http://tampabay.com

Date: 5/27/2009

7-year-old drives for help after crash in NM

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — A 7-year-old girl survived a crash that killed her father and drove the family’s damaged vehicle to get help, police said.

State police Capt. Jimmy Glascock says 40-year-old Guillermo Montes of Bovina, Texas, was thrown out of the vehicle Saturday night when it went off a highway and rolled over, coming to rest in a field in Curry County.

Glascock says little Elizabeth Kazza realized her father was dead and drove for about three miles until a passing motorist spotted her.

“(It took) a lot of courage. … It’s remarkable anybody could drive after something like that,” Glascock said.

Authorities found Montes dead at the scene. The girl and her 4-year-old brother were treated for minor injuries.

State police said Wednesday that Elizabeth told officers her dad was driving to Clovis, about 25 miles from Bovina, to get beer when they crashed.

They said alcohol was believed to be a factor in the crash. Glascock said beer bottles were found at the scene, and that Elizabeth and her younger brother said Montes was drinking as he drove.

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Information from: Clovis News Journal, http://www.cnjonline.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.