ABC 30 reports on a man who was killed in a suspected DUI crash as he was giving a friend a ride.
On Saturday night, surveillance video caught the moment that a suspected drunken driver hit Shawn Milton’s car, sending sparks flying.
Previously, Milton had spent the day with his family, including his dad, sisters, and his children. He was a father of five with another child on the way. His oldest child had just graduated from high school.
Instead of the planned trip to visit family in Central Valley, his son is now attending his father’s memorial.
Milton’s last act was one of friendship: a homeless friend needed a ride and Milton stepped up to offer one. They were just blocks away from their destination when 21-year-old Gustavo Blanco, who was speeding and had just run a red light, slammed into Milton’s vehicle.
On Tuesday, Blanco was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and DUI causing injury.
Milton’s passenger is still hospitalized with serious injuries.
California has a number of enhancement charges that can add harsher penalties to a DUI charge. One of those enhancements is excessive blood-alcohol levels, which are counted when a person has a BAC of over 0.15%. For the majority of people, 0.08% is the legal limit. This is because once you get much beyond 0.08%, you are visibly impaired. At 0.10%, reaction time is noticeably reduced, and speech is noticeably slurred. Balance is noticeably affected. At 0.15%, a person has much less muscle control and may experience muscle spasms and falling. By 0.20%, pain sensations are lessened and nausea and vomiting will likely occur.
