Patrick Lagacé on a drunk driver
Patrick Lagacé is always worth reading, but especially when he’s mad. And he’s mad about a drunken driver whose error in traffic killed a woman on a Montreal street back in May. As Lagacé explains, Vi Trung Ngo owns a garage, and was driving a client’s car, presumably without permission. And he didn’t have a licence.
The accused driver was in court this week, and was released by the judge and told not to drive, even though he has a history of not giving a damn – as Lagacé says, “c’est un type qui se contre-crisse d’autrui.” Lagacé goes so far as to suggest that a judge who makes a choice like this undermines the public’s trust in justice.
Blork 11:26 on 2023-08-02 Permalink
An important point for those who are reading too fast and see this as “he got away with it.” He’s been released pending his trial. So there will still be a trial; it’s not like he’s just walking away scott-free. (But still; if there was ever a case for detaining someone awaiting trial you’d think this would be it…)
Kate 12:03 on 2023-08-02 Permalink
Thanks for adding the clarification. I was going to write “released on bail” but no mention was made of bail, so I kind of passed over it.
jeather 14:49 on 2023-08-02 Permalink
I don’t disagree with anything but the horrors about driving without his license on him seemed overblown, compared to the actual dangerous driving he did on a lot of other fronts — driving while very drunk, texting while driving, going through red lights.
It looks like he never had his license taken from him (though he should have; not that it would have stopped him, one thinks), so it was driving without his license, but not driving unlicensed. (I admit I have occasionally done as much, either accidentally when I didn’t realise I forgot my wallet — once because I took my license out to scan it then forgot it in the scanner — or to move my car for snow clearance.)
bumper carz 17:29 on 2023-08-02 Permalink
This article contributes to the misinformation that alcohol is usually a factor in fatal car collisions.But this is false: cars are the problem, not alcohol. In reality, 80-90% of fatal car collisions happen without alcohol being a factor:
“De 2008 à 2018, la proportion du nombre de décès causés par l’alcool au volant est passée de 19,6 % à 9,9 %,”
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-05-02/l-alcool-est-de-moins-en-moins-en-cause-dans-les-accidents-mortels.php