A suspected drunken driver was killed and his passenger was criminally charged following a crash in Grainger County, according to authorities.
Douglas Hurst, 43, of Arcadia, Fla., was killed when he pulled into the path of an oncoming vehicle shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday on U.S. Highway 11W in Bean Station, Tenn., according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol incident report.
Hurst was behind the wheel of a 2004 Pontiac Sunfire when he turned onto the highway at Lakeview Lane. The car was struck on its driver’s side by a southbound 1998 Ford van.
Hurst was not wearing a seat belt, and is suspected of being under the influence of both drugs and alcohol at the time, according to the incident report.
The seat belt would have made a difference in the opinion of investigating Trooper Bobby Brooks, the report states.
His passenger, Maria Ann Moore, 28, of Casar, N.C., was not wearing a seat belt either, and suffered injuries. She, too, is suspected of being under the influence of both drugs and alcohol, according to the report.
Moore now is charged with DUI by consent.
The driver of the Ford van, Dale L. Cope, 39, of Bean Station, was not injured in the crash.
More details as they develop online and in Monday’s News Sentinel.
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Comments » 16
Caneoverthere writes:
WHAT???
The drunk that killed the guy on a bike in Cocke county didn't even go to jail for a day. I'm guessing Morre was not in politics.
OllieSouth writes:
Yep. Same thing as with Senator Carl Koella a few years back. At least Koella got part of I-140 named after himself.
littleb writes:
Oh, now I get it. As long as it is an innocent bystander who gets killed by a drunk driver it's no big deal. But, let a drunk driver get killed and someone better pay. Don't forget about the seatbelt. Had he had one on he would still be alive and racking up some big time medical bills.
CatfishJohn writes:
DUI by consent? What does this mean?
EmmanuelGoldstein writes:
Yeah, that's a new one on me, too. Anyone have a precise legal def?
EmmanuelGoldstein writes:
It's hard to shed a tear for the Seatbelt Rebel. Too often, the drunk driver survives after killing someone else, and for every wreck or arrest, a chronic drunk driver has done it at least 8 other times.
With the lax enforcement and ridiculous punishments for DUI, all I can say is that I'm glad there is one less on the road.
OllieSouth writes:
Thanks. You said what I was thinking.
FredSanford writes:
DUI by consent is when the registered owner lets a drunk driver drive their car and the owner is in the car with them.
Jethrobodine4 writes:
Allowing a drunk person to drive your car.
hystericalsociety writes:
I'm not certain I've ever heard of "DUI by consent" charges before.
I can't imagine what it means, unless the vehicle was owned by the female passenger who allowed the inebriated man to drive it, with the knowledge that he was impaired.
It might be more common to charge a drunk and injured passenger with public drunkenness.
Her defense attorney could argue that if she was too inebriated to drive, she was also too inebriated to note that her designated driver was wasted. Or maybe she can claim that he took the keys away from her.
Very sad. Society pays out the nose for stupid stuff like this- in so many different ways. Some even pay with their lives.
SidelineReporter writes:
Her attorney could claim it but it wouldn't work. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
He didn't take the keys away from her if she was buckled in the passenger seat so that one won't fly either. My guess is that she pleads down and has to live with the fact that she was next to a dead guy in the car for a bit and she contributed to his condition by having him drive.
One punishment is living through it and having to face the survivors.
He was from Florida and she was from N.C.? What were they doing in Grainger Co.? Nobody like tomatoes THAT much.
littleb writes:
in response to SidelineReporter:
"He was from Florida and she was from N.C.? What were they doing in Grainger Co.? Nobody like tomatoes THAT much."
Apparently driving drunk . . . guess word has got out this is the place to do it.
SamSays writes:
DUI by consent, huh?
When private companies run prisons, there's a profit motive for locking people up. Expect to see more creative charges like this.
Cvett69 writes:
Quote: "Her attorney could claim it but it wouldn't work. Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
It really depends on how good her attorney is and if she pleads down.
TN_Engineer writes:
First time I heard of it was last year in a wreck in Nashville near Vanderbilt. Same thing - the passenger got charged with DUI.
ShellHead writes:
Two drunks, but the passenger gets charged..... I never figured TN for a nanny state.
And this story lacks many details. Where can I get the whole story?
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