According to the Centers for Disease Control, around one-third of all crashes in the United States involve a driver that is intoxicated. Californians between the age of 20 and 30 are most at risk for drunk-driving fatalities. Men are statistically more likely to be involved in a drunk driving crash than women. These statistics are one of the reasons that California takes drunk driving very seriously. Even a first time DUI can end with jail time, thousands of dollars in fines and fees, mandatory installation of an ignition interlock, and license suspension. If there are injuries or fatalities, the penalties can quickly become more severe.
The San Luis Obispo Tribune reports on a college student and another driver who were killed in a suspected wrong-way DUI crash.
22-year-old Nicole Annalise Scalone was just days away from graduating from Cal Poly when she drove with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit. She was driving the wrong way on Highway 101 when she plowed head-on into another vehicle.
According to the California Highway Patrol, Scalone was traveling southbound in the northbound lanes just after 2:30 a.m. on June 12th.
The driver of the other vehicle was 43-year-old Anthony Au, who was heading into the sheriff’s Honor Farm, where he worked as a cook. Both Au and Scalone were pronounced dead at the scene.
Toxicology reports were returned to the authorities on Thursday. Scalone’s blood-alcohol levels were revealed to have been .24% at the time of the crash. California’s legal limit is .08%, making her three times the legal limit.
