These crashes are not accidents

Karen Wittman

Anyone who knows me would say I am not a perfectionist, not a person who insists on exactness. But I do have one thing that I must insist on - stop calling impaired driving crashes “accidents.”

Hello, my name is Karen Wittman. I currently am Deputy District Attorney in the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office, and I specialize in traffic prosecution.  Prior to coming to Wyandotte County, I was the Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor for the state.

Read about any crash online or in print media and the headlines state: 

“Son dies in second drunk driving accident”

“Drunk driver kills couple in accident”

“One paralyzed in accident with drunk driver”

“Driver impaired in accident killing baby” 

This is wrong!  It is inaccurate! If you look up in Webster’s dictionary “accident,” it is defined as, “an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally;” or better yet, “an event that happens by chance or that is without apparent or deliberate cause.” 

An impaired driving crash is foreseeable, expected, intentional and NOT by chance.

I have made it a point to go out on all fatal crashes in which someone could possibly be charged with a crime. I work closely with law enforcement to determine if a crash involves criminal behavior. I remember one night specifically.  On that night, I received a call from my husband.  He was bringing our kids home from soccer practice.  He was wondering if I knew why the traffic was so backed up.  I told him I did not know.  As soon as I hung up, I received a call from dispatch. There was a crash and they were requesting me to come out.  I called my husband back and told him he may be there awhile. 

When I got there, it was obvious how the crash occurred. A vehicle had travelled the wrong way and hit a car head on. There was debris all over the roadway. I asked about the person who was driving the correct way. I was told he was still alive but that he probably would not make it. I asked about the other driver and was told she was not hurt but was being transported to the hospital to get checked out. The cops on the scene indicated they could smell alcohol coming from her and that there was an open container of alcohol in the vehicle. The driver who was driving the right way died three days later.

After further investigation and a blood test, the wrong way driver’s blood alcohol level was 0.24! The legal limit is 0.08. I charged the driver with involuntary manslaughter while Driving Under the Influence, a felony.

While working the case, I met the victim’s wife and 4-year-old son. They were devastated by what happened. I found out the victim was coming home from college where he attended night classes to make a better life for his family. His wife was about four months pregnant with their second child. The victim’s mother and father were in constant contact with me - they lived out of state. They wanted answers!  I did not have any. Why did this person do this? How did she get so disoriented to be going the wrong way on that stretch of highway? The only answer I could tell them is she was impaired.

In the end, the wrong way driver went to prison. She pleaded not to go. She wanted to be with her daughter who was young at the time. She begged the judge to allow her to be with her family. I told the judge my victim had no chance to beg for more time with his family. My victim wished he could have one more day, one more minute, one more moment with his family and that was all taken away from her selfish act.

Months passed and I received a card in the mail. It was a birth announcement-- a baby girl was born. A girl who would never know a father that wanted her life to be better than his. A father that would not walk her down the aisle, or give her advice or bring her home from soccer practice. Then it hit me … my family was on that road that night.

This crash and all other impaired driving cases are preventable! These crashes are foreseeable, they are not by chance … these crashes are NOT accidents.