Help us find Annie
Drunk, irresponsible dad
Quoting The Associated Press:
WELLERSBURG -- A man accused of drunken driving told state police that his 4-year-old son was at the wheel of his sport utility vehicle when it crashed into a tree.
Albert Monroe Boyce Jr., 33, of Hyndman, told police that his son was sitting on his lap and turned the wheel too far to one side, sending the SUV off the road.
Boyce faces a preliminary hearing Sept. 21 on charges of drunken driving, child endangerment, reckless endangerment and driving without a license.
*** Boyce received facial injuries in the crash, and the child was treated and released for unspecified injuries, authorities said.
Boyce had an open 30-pack of Budweiser and a cooler in the vehicle when the crash occurred July 14, police said.
I'm not sure what's worse here: the craven behavior of this father or the reporting. Let's start with the latter:
"Boyce had ...a cooler in the vehicle." Big deal. What? Is there now some law prohibiting the possession of "beer paraphenalia?"
"...the child was treated and released for unspecified injuries..." Aside from the tragically bad syntax, it would be worth knowing more about the child's injuries, and into whose custody he was released. Presumably the father is out on bail, and either way it's newsworthy whether the kid was released to his parents' custody (are they still married? living together?) or taken into the custody of some social services agency.
As far as the incident itself is concerned, you have to ask whether this man, Boyce, was dumb enough to let the kid drive the SUV, or is using that as an excuse for his own distraction and drunkenness.
I recently saw a minor crash that occurred when a man was allowing a child of around three years steer his mini-van while he was backing it out of a parking space. The dad was so busy playing with the child that he was oblivious to the horn honking behind him and my hollering, until he backed into another vehicle. This wasn't some drunk in the coal region of PA, either. The perpetrator is a business owner in a particularly affluent part of Howard County, MD.
Stupidity knows no social, economic or educational bounds.