Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Drunk Teen Drivers: After the Crash

Milad Moulayi was 16-years old on the night his schoolmate Mackenzie Frazee died. Mackenzie wanted to go home from the party and Milad, who had the keys to his mother’s Mercedes-Benz, insisted on driving her home even after 10 shots of Sailor Jerry rum.

Despite several warnings from friends not to drive after drinking, Mackenzie got in the car with Milad. She was eager to get home because she did not have the permission to be at the party. But little did she know that getting in the car with the drunken teen was an even bigger mistake than sneaking out to a party.

Their car, which was going in excess of 100 mph down Newport Avenue crashed into a concrete light pole. The strength of the crash sliced the car in two and Mackenzie died from massive blunt force trauma.

Now 18, Milad was recently sentenced by Superior Court Judge Carla Singer to the maximum term of 15 years to life after he was convicted of second-degree murder for the death of Mackenzie. The judge told Milad that he committed a "brutal and violent crime, knowing and understanding that you were not supposed to drive."

Most recently, in Laguna Niguel, a 15-year old boy killed an active US soldier when the car he was driving at a speed of more than 100 mph hit a curb and rolled over down a hillside.

25-year old Nicholas Clayton, an active member of the U.S. Army, was the passenger of the teenager who was driving drunk and without a valid license. He was ejected from the rolling Lexus and his body was found near the intersection of Camino del Avion and Niguel Road.

The accident is still under investigation due to conflicting statements made by the driver. The recent blood tests show that despite the teen’s allegations that he was drunk, his system had little or no alcohol.

The minor has been booked for vehicular manslaughter.

If drinking and driving don’t mix, adding teenagers to the combination certainly spells disaster in all caps.

A lot of kids think they can get away with driving without a license, drinking and driving, speeding, and other dangerous driver behavior simply because they’re too young to go to jail. In short, they think they can get away with anything.

But that is not always the case. When the crime is grave enough, they can’t escape the consequences of their actions and would be tried as an adult under the eyes of the law they sought to circumvent.

They may have survived the accident but when faced with criminal charges, there might not be a lot left of their lives after the crash.