Jun 16, 2009 10:49 pm US/Central
Looking At DWI Numbers After 2 Recent Crashes
(WCCO)
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Heather Solberg was on her way home from watching fireworks with friends when she struck in the crosswalk on Highway 169 in Champlin by an alleged drunken driver.
CBS
Two innocent Minnesotans are now dead from separate crashes this weekend blamed on accused drunken drivers.
On Tuesday, Christopher Iverson's family took him off life support. Prosecutors say a drunken driver hit him early Sunday morning while he stood at a Minneapolis bus stop.
That same morning in Champlin, police say a drunken driver hit and killed Heather Solberg and then took off. She had been walking home with friends from a fireworks display.
Two deaths by two drunken drivers within one half hour -- how often does it happen? Experts say it's not uncommon.
Last year, 190 people in Minnesota died in accidents where someone had been drinking. That's up from the year before and the year before that.
"Drunk drivers don't discriminate. And the general public has now come to realize that anyone, at anytime can be hit by a drunk driver," said Jean Mulvey, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, most alcohol-related crashes happen Saturday between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. More than 75 percent of those drivers are men and 56 percent are between the ages of 20 and 34. About 40 percent have drunk driving records and their average blood alcohol level is 0.15.
About 12 percent of Minnesotans have been arrested for drunken driving. A first-time offense can carry fines, jail time and a revocation of a driver's license. It can also cost more than $10,000 in bail, legal fees and hikes in car insurance.
These statistics don't mean much when a mother loses her son.
"What can I say, I'm going to lose my son because of some drunk," said Claudette Mastro, Iverson's mother.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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