MOUNDSVILLE DAILY ECHO

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113th Year–Daily 109th Year, N0. 265 Thursday, January 27, 2005
MOUNDSVILLE, WV 26041 20 + .02 per copy $42.50 + tax by mail in Marshall County
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A program, Wednesday afternoon, at John Marshall High School in Glen Dale gave emphasis to the consequences of drinking and driving, as a local attorney, State Police Trooper and 2 local media personalities - part of the “Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose” program - visited with 300 seniors at the high school.

As the program began, Jeff Oechslein, Chief Meteorologist for WTOV-9 and Ned Bowdern, “Voice of the Nailers,” joined local attorney, Christopher Turak, from Gold, Khourey & Turak, as they selected random student volunteers from the audience to answer questions from the Booze Buster Quiz. As students called out their answer to each question, Turak and State Police Cpl. Laing examined and explained the facts behind the law. Students’ written answers to the questions on the quiz, given prior to the start of the assembly, were not revealed, though references to the overall results were interspersed throughout the program.

As the program continued, a student volunteer, nominated by his peers, was taken on stage by Cpl. Laing, where he proceeded to explain the procedures used when making a DUI arrest.

After initially determining that no underlying medical problems would skew the results of the field sobriety tests, Cpl. Laing asked the student to put on the Fatal Vision Goggles, which simulate intoxication of only 0.10 BAC. With the goggles on, the boy was taken through a series of field sobriety tests, by the 11-year veteran State Trooper. Use of the specially-designed goggles allows students to objectively learn exactly how a BAC of 0.10 - the legal limit for adults in West Virginia - affects the coordination and reflexes.

Attorney Turak and Cpl. Laing explained “Implied Consent” as it applies to drivers licensing. In West Virginia, Turak explained, acceptance of a driver’s license implies consent to testing to determine whether a person’s BAC has reached the legal limit. “You can refuse to take the breath test or blood test,” Cpl. Laing explained, “But your license will be suspended.” He pointed out that a person is assumed to be guilty of DUI when they fail to comply with a request for blood-alcohol testing. For that reason, West Virginia’s Division of Motor Vehicles will automatically suspend that person’s license. “When you accept a driver’s license in West Virginia, you agree to take a blood test when charged with DUI. If you don’t you’ve broken your bargain with the State and your license is suspended.” Attorney Turak emphasized that “Driving is a privilege - not a Right.”

On average, a person is killed by a drunk driver every 15 minutes. Throughout the program, at 15-minute intervals, members of the John Marshall’s Student Council selected a student at random to be “killed.” Those students sat in chairs at the front of the school auditorium, as a graphic reminder that drunk driving is an indiscriminate killer - there is no “pattern” to identify who might become a victim of a driver who, under the influence of alcohol, medication - even “over-the-counter” non-prescription drugs, or illicit drugs, chooses to “get behind the wheel” of a vehicle. There is also no “pattern” to the type of vehicles that, when operated by someone who has become “under the influence,” become “killing machines.”

Because drinking and driving has become a major cause of traffic fatalities, the Moundsville law firm, Gold, Khourey & Turak, established the “Booze and Cruise, You’ll Lose” program in 1992 as a way to educate the community about the consequences of drinking and driving. The Program encourages individuals not to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs and to make safe decisions. Gold, Khourey & Turak, a personal injury law firm, is committed to representing victims of alcohol-related accidents. In one recent case, Chris Turak represented a family whose son was killed by an intoxicated driver. Turak helped ensure that the bar that continued to serve the driver was closed.