You’ve probably already hear about Brittany Dawn Burton, the drunken wrong-way driver whose wantonly reckless actions too the life of an innocent victim in North Texas. Do you think she gave a care to whether she took that person’s life or not? She didn’t even care about her own safety or the safety of her 6-moth old child. Police reportedly witnessed Brittany Dawn Burton traveling with her hands behind her head as she drove into heavy I-35 traffic the wrong way with her infant in the SUV.
The drivers of two vehicles took evasive action to try and avoid the wretch with her hands resting behind her head as she casually and drunkenly drove the wrong way on a busy interstate. The two vehicles of these other drivers collided while Brittany Burton went on with her reckless escapade.
The two drivers exited their vehicles, and one lost his life when another vehicle struck him on I-35. Brittany Burton and her child were unharmed by her drunken, reckless escapade. Brittany Burton was jailed and charged with intoxication manslaughter and child endangerment. (Update: Dallas news reports indicate that the prosecutor has decided to upgrade the charge to murder. Let’s hope it sticks.)
Another reckless, wrong-way driver lost his own life when he crashed driving the wrong way at high speed on Beltway 8 in Houston. The crash injured two innocent victims who had to be extracted from their wrecked vehicle and taken to the hospital for their injuries.
In both wrong-way driving incidents, sharp-eyed authorities spotted the heedless, callous drivers and quickly tried to stop them before they did any harm. But once a reckless or drunken driver is on the road in a vehicle that has become a deadly weapon in their hands, authorities can’t always prevent a tragedy.
Everyone needs to take a hand in discouraging heedless, hateful, or drunken behaviors before they injure or kill the innocent. Don’t let friends, family, or acquaintances drive drunk, drugged, or otherwise impaired. Don’t enable or encourage the underlying behaviors. Responsible action starts with you. The life you save might be your own. Your life and your safety just aren’t part of the callous driver’s equation. It’s up to you to change that math.
Brittany’s Burton’s daughter, whose own greatest liability may be her mother, narrowly escaped disaster on I-35. A man trying to evade Brittany Burton’s reckless, drunken driving was not as fortunate. His life was tragically lost to a callous, drunken loser.