Sandra Jacobson is back in jail again after being arrested for driving with a suspended license. Her license was suspended in early January 2009, over two weeks before the she caused the crash that killed Kathy Krasniewicz 54, and Kate McClelland, 71.

Jacobson is accused of losing control of her truck and sideswiping a taxi headed to Denver International Airport (DIA) and causing the crash that killed the two Connecticut librarians.

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Recent statistics on fatalities involving drunk drivers show that the number of people killed in alcohol related crashes since 2002 are declining. But, what we need to remember is that these statistics are not just numbers on a graph. These statistics represent a person – someone’s loved one, whether they are family, friend, neighbor, co-worker or an acquaintance.

Unlike contracting cancer or some other terminal illness, fatalities caused by a drunk driver are 100 percent preventable. Drunk driving is a choice. You cannot choose to get or not get cancer. You cannot choose to have or not have a heart attack. But you can choose to drive drunk.

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Most of us have at least one parking or speeding ticket in our driving careers. We get assessed points against our licenses, pay our fines and promise not to do it again. But, according to a Denver Post article, there may be about 225,000 illegal drivers in Colorado. These illegal drivers caused nearly one-fourth of all traffic deaths in Colorado last year.

In 2008, Colorado saw 548 people killed in motor vehicle crashes, and of those, 130 of these fatalities (24 percent) involved illegal drivers. According to the auditors’ report, only seven other states had a higher rate of fatal crashes involving illegal drivers last year.

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Another successful Wall-Bop Golf Tournament is behind us, and once again we are in awe of the generosity and support of our friends, family, and sponsors.

As in prior years, we were sold out, with people from all over the country traveling to Colorado to join us in a celebration of our boys, Paul and Brandon. The weather cooperated and everyone had a great time; golfers and volunteers alike.

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Fortunately for the state of Colorado, Governor Ritter decided to scrap his recent plan to stop funding for drunk driving crackdowns. As part of his original budget cutting plan, Ritter proposed to take more than 1.3 million dollars away from the program that funds the overtime pay for police officers that man the Driving Under the Influence (DUI) patrols such as “The Heat is On”.

On the chopping block was the Law Enforcement Assistant Fund (LEAF) which is funded by the fees paid by those arrested for alcohol-related offences. Of the ninety dollar fee, about one-third goes to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to fund grants for DUI enforcement. In 2009 about 1.4 millions dollars was on hand for 56 different police and sheriff departments throughout Colorado.

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On Saturday, August 1, 2009 the employees of Bachus and Schanker and partners, Darin Schanker and Kyle Bachus had the opportunity to participate in the Fourth Annual Walk Like Madd event at Sloans Lake Park in Denver, Colorado. A handful of participated with our dogs and loved ones in tow.

It was an early when I arrived at Sloans Lake on the morning of August 1, 2009. Now don’t get me wrong I showed up at 6:30 am, but there were several others there at 4:00 am setting up the site for the Fourth Annual Walk Like Madd event.

For those of you who don’t know, MADD stands for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. MADD is not a crusade against alcohol consumption, MADD’s mission is to stop drunk driving, support the victims of this violent crime, and prevent underage drinking.

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Every year, nearly 13,000 people are killed by drunk drivers with an illegal alcohol level of .08 BAC or above. That means that every month more than 1,000 families must live with the tragic consequences of drunk driving. Since MADD was founded in 1980, alcohol-related fatalities have declined by more than 40 percent, but there’s still more to be done.

That is why MADD launched a major offensive in the war against drunk driving the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. As MADD Colorado’s Statewide Sponsor, Bachus & Schanker provides crucial support to MADD Colorado’s efforts to eliminate drunk driving in our state.

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The Denver Post recently wrote a story about Colorado drunk driving multiple offenders who finally kill someone before they are held accountable for their crimes. One multiple offender was actually picked up for a DUI the day after he was booked and released after he ran a red light and killed a woman.

One of these multiple offenders, Richard Strock, was arrested 18 times for drunken driving, 5 times for hit-and-run charges and served time in prison before he got behind the wheel while intoxicated for the 19th time and killed his ex-wife Phyllis “Patricia” Trujillo Strock.

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Sometimes statistics are interesting…how many hours the average person sleeps in their lifetime, how much peanut butter the average American eats, or how many people drink and drive. Some statistics are horrifying, like the number of times some people have been arrested for driving while intoxicated before they kill someone. That statistic for Richard Strock is 18. Richard Strock has been arrested 18 times for driving drunk before he killed his ex-wife in a drunken driving crash in 2006. In 27 years, Strock has collected an astounding 18 drunken driving arrests and five hit-and-run charges.

The Denver Post recently examined 195 DUI crashes that involved a death since 2005 and found that at least 30 percent of the drunk drivers involved had multiple DUI arrests before they finally killed someone. That’s 58 deaths cased by a repeat offender.

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Drinking and driving…most of us wouldn’t consider driving while drunk. But, most of us have talked on our cell phones while driving. But, do we really appreciate the ramifications of driving and talking on our phones. A recent study by the AAA Foundation, using driving simulators, suggests that drivers talking on their cell phones exhibit the same behaviors as drunk drivers. They weave, they cut off other drivers, they neglect to stop for pedestrians and they ignore stop signs. They also have significantly impaired reaction time. According to the study, drivers talking on their cells phones are more likely to be involved in a rear-end crash than a drunk driver.
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