Officer Charles Whites, Round Rock PD, died yesterday of injuries, and complications of those injuries, he received when he was struck by a drunk driver while working a fatal accident scene on February 25th. The driver was arrested and charged with intoxication manslaughter.
Officer Whites suffered severe head injuries and numerous broken bones. He remained mostly unconscious and unresponsive in the days after his injuries although at times signs of improvement were noted. Nonetheless, the officer eventually succumbed to his injuries.
My personal observation as an one-time peace officer, and as a private citizen later, is that somehow traffic accidents seem to attract drunk drivers almost in the same vein that flame and light bulbs attract moths. I never understood if it was the flashing red and blue lights that seemed to draw drunk drivers right into the accident scene, or just the confusion of having to maneuver through a street or highway obstructed by one or more disabled vehicles. Once I read a study that showed that patrol cars, fire trucks, etc., that were equipped with bright, flashing yellow lights to the rear were not struck as often as those equipped only with red, or with red and blue lights. Apparently yellow lights actually cause a drunk driver to (TRY to) exercise caution, and to fear police attention more than do red and blue lights.
Regardless of the reasons drunk drivers seem attracted to road side hazards, driving drunk is both illegal and STUPID. The deaths and injuries drunk drivers cause is senseless and so needless. Police officers are endangered by drunk drivers, but then so are all others who are on (or even NEAR) the road when drunk drivers pass. Not only that, but anyone who chooses to ride with a drunk driver is also tempting fate.
Just two nights ago out on a highway just northwest of Midland, a drunk driver managed to hit not one, but THREE bicyclists who were, as usual, riding on the shoulder, NOT in the road. Two of the cyclists were dead at the scene, one is still alive and in a local hospital. These two deaths were just the latest in a constant stream of fatal "accidents" caused by drunk drivers in the West Texas area. And deaths at the hands of drunk drivers continue unabated across the state and the nation.
Officer Whites was taken from his wife and family, and his friends, needlessly, in what was one of the most preventable tragedies of all. One person, a fifty-five year old man in this case, could have made the decision not to drink and drive. The decision not to drink and drive has to be made BEFORE one gets intoxicated, because once a person is "ten feet tall and bullet proof," that person can easily drive a car, right? What's the big deal?! Everything is alright, until a drunk driver causes a wreck and kills someone or injures someone. The drunk driver is rarely killed or injured in the wreck he causes. I have personally witnessed a wreck in which the drunk driver did not even know why his car would not "work." He had no idea he had caused a wreck and killed a man...not until he woke up in jail the next morning.
Officer Whites gave his life in the line of duty, not trying to catch a murderer or bank robber, but while directing traffic around an accident that involved, ironically, a fatality, a person who was walking along the shoulder of the roadway and a car, probably operated by a drunk driver, swerved onto the shoulder and knocked the man out into the grass.
Officer Whites' death is particularly tragic because it appeared, at least for awhile, that the officer was improving from his injuries, and might have had a long and hard, but successful recovery.
My prayers for Officer Whites' family and friends, not only in his death, but also in the long, hard road they all traveled while hoping for this officer's recovery.
And may God bless us all.
Officer Whites suffered severe head injuries and numerous broken bones. He remained mostly unconscious and unresponsive in the days after his injuries although at times signs of improvement were noted. Nonetheless, the officer eventually succumbed to his injuries.
My personal observation as an one-time peace officer, and as a private citizen later, is that somehow traffic accidents seem to attract drunk drivers almost in the same vein that flame and light bulbs attract moths. I never understood if it was the flashing red and blue lights that seemed to draw drunk drivers right into the accident scene, or just the confusion of having to maneuver through a street or highway obstructed by one or more disabled vehicles. Once I read a study that showed that patrol cars, fire trucks, etc., that were equipped with bright, flashing yellow lights to the rear were not struck as often as those equipped only with red, or with red and blue lights. Apparently yellow lights actually cause a drunk driver to (TRY to) exercise caution, and to fear police attention more than do red and blue lights.
Regardless of the reasons drunk drivers seem attracted to road side hazards, driving drunk is both illegal and STUPID. The deaths and injuries drunk drivers cause is senseless and so needless. Police officers are endangered by drunk drivers, but then so are all others who are on (or even NEAR) the road when drunk drivers pass. Not only that, but anyone who chooses to ride with a drunk driver is also tempting fate.
Just two nights ago out on a highway just northwest of Midland, a drunk driver managed to hit not one, but THREE bicyclists who were, as usual, riding on the shoulder, NOT in the road. Two of the cyclists were dead at the scene, one is still alive and in a local hospital. These two deaths were just the latest in a constant stream of fatal "accidents" caused by drunk drivers in the West Texas area. And deaths at the hands of drunk drivers continue unabated across the state and the nation.
Officer Whites was taken from his wife and family, and his friends, needlessly, in what was one of the most preventable tragedies of all. One person, a fifty-five year old man in this case, could have made the decision not to drink and drive. The decision not to drink and drive has to be made BEFORE one gets intoxicated, because once a person is "ten feet tall and bullet proof," that person can easily drive a car, right? What's the big deal?! Everything is alright, until a drunk driver causes a wreck and kills someone or injures someone. The drunk driver is rarely killed or injured in the wreck he causes. I have personally witnessed a wreck in which the drunk driver did not even know why his car would not "work." He had no idea he had caused a wreck and killed a man...not until he woke up in jail the next morning.
Officer Whites gave his life in the line of duty, not trying to catch a murderer or bank robber, but while directing traffic around an accident that involved, ironically, a fatality, a person who was walking along the shoulder of the roadway and a car, probably operated by a drunk driver, swerved onto the shoulder and knocked the man out into the grass.
Officer Whites' death is particularly tragic because it appeared, at least for awhile, that the officer was improving from his injuries, and might have had a long and hard, but successful recovery.
My prayers for Officer Whites' family and friends, not only in his death, but also in the long, hard road they all traveled while hoping for this officer's recovery.
And may God bless us all.
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