Marilyn Perry, 62, (left) has curious defense for crashing into the car of Pamela Beckham, 50, (right below) and breaking Beckham’s neck and causing her other injuries in Bellevue. Perry was trying to get her grandchildren out of the car so it could have been much much worse when Beckham slammed into her.
The police suspected DUI but found that she was never drunk nor using her cellphone at the time of the accident. Instead, Beckham explained that she was going through some personal problems and was praying as she drove with her head down. What is interesting is that if she were drunk or on the cellphone, she might have gone to jail. However, driving while praying (DWP) leading to vehicular assault will place you in an intervention program and on three years probation. The judge also ordered Perry to make up to $10,000 in restitution.
I am not sure what a DWP intervention program does. Does it turn you into an atheist or teach you to pray with your head up and eyes open?
Praying is a good thing to do. However, there is a time and place to pray. Eyes closed while driving a car isn’t it.
I got into a mild dispute the other day with a friend who is very religious. She knows better than to try to proselytize to me and in general we avoid the discussion of God, religion etc.
However, she was going on about how she was in a really tough spot and was praying to God to solve her problems. God was going to help her. She was afraid that God wasn’t going to solve her problem and get her out of her “spot”.
I suggested that praying for God to solve the problem is not necessarily the answer and that perhaps God wants us to try to help ourselves. That God is not here to fix everything in your life and possibly God looks favorably on those who not only pray but also take steps to fix their own problems first instead of demanding that God be the fixer.
She was very offended.
LOL.
So she ran right into Mrs. Doubtfire?
I’m sure some of the hundreds of people I see driving every day are praying to whatever being they choose to ascribe supernatural powers to, but I can’t say as I have seen any of them with their heads down. I am far more likely to see people texting, dialing a phone, or fumbling with whatever they are eating for breakfast with their heads down; these people scare the heck out of me! I guess they could be texting their god or praying to the jelly donut in their lap, but I can’t tell; I’m too busy staying out of their way. Something about piloting 8000 pounds of Detroit steel down the highway at 75 MPH makes me not want to do any of those things. Has anyone suggested that she simply fell asleep and is trying to use the praying excuse to buy simpathy?
I don’t care if it rains or freezes
As long as I have my plastic Jesus
Riding on the dashboard of my car……
I am surprised they have enough DWP that they have an intervention program.
And let’s not forget that “guide dog” spelled backwards is “god ediug! Am I right?
There is nothing that prevents you from praying while having your head up, eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. If she had been driving in the manner she was driving but had not been praying, would she have been treated differently? Does this mean that someone who is driving while intoxicated who is also praying gets treated better than someone who is merely driving while intoxicated?
Should it make a difference what you are praying for? Do I get a pass if I’m praying for something good? Do I get treated worse if I’m praying for more posts by Mr. Spinelli like the one he made on this thread?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU?feature=player_detailpage&w=640&h=360%5D
This $H!7 was bound to happen when St. Christopher got downgraded to Mr. Christopher!
I’m sure when Nick did that stint in as substitute priest, while working undercover as a mechanic for Joey Chitwood’s Hell Driver he cautioned the drivers that it was “Pay Attention” not “Pray for Intentions”.
This is a good case where we can apply the standard of ‘you caused this damage/injury/loss of life, so you are responsible for it’. Doesn’t matter if she was drunk, stoned, or simply praying. Whatever the reason, she caused an accident, and that should be the focus of her punishment. Not the why. Incentives matter.
What I’m saying is- make the stakes REALLY high for causing an accident, don’t give special categories for driving under the influence, etc. Simply force people to take responsibility no matter what substance they were or were not doing. The very real consequences will force people to be a lot more cautious when driving- all the time.
I’m also not saying don’t discount people’s substance use when finding fault. Just don’t use it to up the charges. Damage done is damage done.
Dave, that’s funny and oh so true. Many people talk to their passengers, human or Divine whilst driving. No need to put your head down, I’m pretty sure God would take no offense.
Nick:
There’s more of that predictable pre-whining of yours.
Oh and by the way, concentrating on the act of driving when driving is, I don’t know, superior to letting Jesus take the wheel.
It’s supernatural. I searched the scripture for answers. Here’s some possible outcomes:
Pro_25:16 Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
Pro_26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Isa_19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit.
Isa_28:8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
Jer_48:26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
2Pe_2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
Oh, the lard works on Sunday and Krisco works on Monday through Saturday. Its not fried chicken daddy, its Shake N Bake.
If she had a guide dog this would not have happened. The Eighth Day Dog Adventists could provide guidance in her probation rehabilitation. A dog could even take the wheel if she had some praying spell while driving. At least a drunk driver has some notice of what is going on. There is mental illness here and the lady is clouding and masking the issues with this prayer apCray. Take the car away from her and drop her off at a church with a pew for doing the prayer. Let her pray for a car and a drivers license. Get her a dog soon. The judge needs to be removed from his job. The judge should do bankruptcies and divorces as a solo practitioner out there in the law world.
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
She breaks a person’s neck and she gets a pass and only has to make up to 10,000 in restitution? Why dies the “fact” that she was “praying” have anything to do with her distracted and grossly negligent driving. Did the judge think it was less dangerous? Good grief. It would appear we need some new laws about praying…praying while driving is hazardous to other people’s health.
This thread will ignite the atheists and their sanctimony.
Was she praying for a makeover?
And her vote counts just like Prof. Turley’s vote (or mine).
Democracy has its flaws.