THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 14, 1995 TAG: 9501140005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
There's a short letter that everyone who drinks should keep in a billfold or purse at all times.
It would be nice if bartenders kept stacks of copies. Rather than serve a customer one last drink for the road, a bartender might hand over the letter and suggest, ``Read this first. It's short.''
People drinking to drown sorrow or nurture self-pity could read the letter to see true grief.
Gail Salzberg of Virginia Beach wrote the letter to a judge, asking that the drunken driver who killed her 54-year-old husband and 14-year-old son one year ago receive a ``punishment to fit his crime.''
The driver, Steven T. Harstock, apparently escaped the punishment he deserved - to be ceaselessly pummeled by remorse till he begs never to have been born.
Hartsock's work supervisor, Tommy C. Collins, wrote in a letter to the judge, ``I have in the past nine months not witnessed any remorse whatsoever in this young man. He gives the impression of a happy-go-lucky guy without a care in the world; in fact, he has stated that he was sick and tired of not being able to plan anything because of his case. I have been struck by the seeming lack of feeling and concern that Steven has displayed throughout this entire matter. One would think that he was the victim of this tragedy.''
One of life's injustices is that people with the hardest hearts, the ones with greatest cause for remorse, feel it least. All consciences are not created equal.
A drunken driver, after emerging from a stupor and learning he has killed someone, might say to himself and the world, Hey, it happened. I'm sorry it happened, but it happened. It was, like, an accident. I didn't mean to kill anyone, and I can't do anything about it now. If I could, I would. It just happened, OK?''
No, it's not OK.
And it didn't just happen. If you choose for a thrill to drive some pitch-dark night with your lights off and you strike and kill a child, is that an accident? If you fire a gun into a restaurant just for the hell of it and someone dies, is the death an accident?
Back in 1982, alcohol accounted for 57.3 percent of traffic deaths. Think of that: The vast majority of drivers were sober as preachers, but even so, almost six of 10 road fatalities were caused by drinkers. Drinkers don't drive very well, and they don't know it because alcohol tells them lies. From the drinker's tummy, the alcohol says, ``Hey, buddy, you're the greatest. You're driving really good. Go ahead, you can pass that truck.''
In 1993, drinkers accounted for 43.5 percent of traffic deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. We are getting smarter, and drunken driving sentences have gotten tougher. Still, more than four of 10 traffic fatalities are caused by drinkers.
Sometimes the drinker dies. Too often someone else dies. In the crash that killed Salzberg's husband and son, Hartsock lost a tooth. He was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison - 10 years for the husband, 10 years for the son.
Save yourself grief. Save others grief. Read Gail Salzberg's letter. Reread it whenever you're tempted to drive after a few drinks. MEMO: Letter from Gail Salzberg to judge
Before the morning of January 2, 1994, we were a family of five. Now
I am all alone. Although I have two other children, they are grown and
live away.
Just that very day I was to pick up a resume because I was going to
start looking for a job in my new career. Two weeks before I had
completed my studies to receive my degree as a paralegal. Now, after I
have seen first-hand how the law really works, I have no desire to enter
the legal profession. And since my husband was my sole source of support
(as well as my children's), it has been very difficult for me to take
care of myself.
My husband Charles was always so generous to me and our children. He
was the most honest, selfless, and hard-working person I ever knew. A
whole community grieved when his life was taken away so tragically. His
death is felt by so many besides my children and myself. He did not
deserve to have it all end so indignantly, and I feel that it is owed to
him that justice is done.
Because there was no mortgage insurance and it is such a financial
burden, I have to give up my home. And I am having a really hard time
dealing with this. This is where my son Andrew grew up. He was not just
my youngest - my baby, he was also my companion. For fourteen years he
was always with me and now he no longer exists. He never went on his
first date; he'll never get to go to law school like he wanted; he'll
never get to do any of those things we all take for granted. Andrew was
such a special boy and I have to live with the loss of him every single
say. I cannot stand it that my son is just a memory now. I can't drive
past a school, walk in the grocery store or a mall, be around children
without searching for his face and always feeling this terrible loss. I
have had to try and close myself off as much as possible from the world
around me.
It is my hope that you will sentence Hartsock for the crime he
committed, not the plea bargain he obtained. He knowingly, wantonly, and
with total disregard for human life killed my husband and my son. . . .
Please do not lose sight of the fact that Steven Hartsock is a criminal.
All I want is for his punishment to fit his crime.
KEYWORDS: DRUNKEN DRIVING SENTENCE by CNB