Oscar Taveras was drunk.
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In 2009, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released this video of an offset crash between a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu.
Colloquialisms about old cars being ‘tanks’ or ‘indestructible’ are not only wrong – they’re really wrong. Cars built in 2014 are MUCH more safe than the cars built before them. They might use nylon for the seats and vinyl on the dash, cheapening their esthetic compared to the classics. But when it comes to structural integrity? Really smart people have made automobiles safer than they’ve ever been.
Ever.
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The NHTSA gives the 2014 Chevy Camero 5 stars in all testing they did on the vehicle. It’s a safe car. So when Oscar Taveras wrecked his with such force that it killed 2 people, it raised a red flag.
Was he drunk?
The original narrative was that it was a dangerous part of a dangerous road in less than ideal weather conditions. I don’t remember any member of the press pushing hard for toxicology reports. Then again, I didn’t really want them to find out.
Today it was reported that Mr. Taveras’ BAC of .287 was 5 times the legal limit for operating a vehicle in the Dominican Republic.
According to B.R.A.D. when your BAC level is at 0.250:
All mental, physical and sensory functions are severely impaired. Increased risk of asphyxiation from choking on vomit and of seriously injuring yourself by falls or other accidents.
So, Mr. Taveras was very, very impaired. And now we know why a safe car wasn’t able to protect two young people’s lives.
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This doesn’t really change anything, though.
Mr. Taveras and his girlfriend Edilia Arvelo are not alive. The mix of alcohol and driving has claimed 2 more victims. This accident goes from gut-wrenching to gut-wrenching, but much more easily understood.
When you’re drunk and you drive, the worst things can happen.
Hopefully this is a lesson to someone out there. Candidly, it won’t stop the practice en masse – just 7 years ago another Cardinals pitcher died while driving drunk and we hoped that lessons were learned then as well.
But if you’re looking to pillory the man after his death, the cause is futile. He’s passed on.
He made a mistake that cost him and a loved one their lives. Luckily the mistakes that we made when we were 22 gave us some good stories for class reunions and bachelor parties. Oscar could have been us.
Do I wish he’d done something else than get drunk and drive his car? Yes. Of course.
But there is literally nothing we can do now except let everyone we know that drinking and driving is dangerous and that you don’t think bad things will happen until they do.
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All of this is sad.
Photo: Washington Post
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