A family was out walking a couple of years ago when their lives changed. Though the incident could have been more severe, the threat to the life of a newborn baby isn’t one to take lightly, even if the baby survived the Pennsylvania DUI accident.
A court sentenced a 36-year-old man to serve 3 1/2 to eight years in prison last week for a crash he caused in 2011. According to CBS Philly, the family was legally crossing at an intersection when an impaired driver ran the red light.
It is just about any parent’s nightmare. Three children were in the group, one of whom was only six weeks old at the time and in a stroller. The impaired driver hit the stroller, and the impact sent it — with the baby inside — into the line of oncoming traffic.
As a result of the accident, the infant sustained a fractured skull that would take several months to heal. The family, witnesses of the terrifying incident, will probably never get over the emotional trauma of seeing the stroller ripped out of the mother’s hands and thrown into the street.
This DUI accident is a bit different from others like it because the driver was reportedly not under the influence of alcohol. He’s a recovering addict who was going through methadone treatment at the time of the crash. The treatment left him impaired and, therefore, unsafe to drive.
That difference regarding the reason for impairment doesn’t change the fact that a family almost lost a child to a preventable car accident. Impaired driving is impaired driving, whether it is caused by alcohol or some other substance. The recklessness is a threat to innocent people’s safety and should be met with legal action.
Source: CBS Philly, “Montco Man Sentenced in DUI Car Crash That Sent Baby in Stroller Flying,” Tony Hanson, May 30, 2013