Mother With Four Unbuckled Children Drives Drunk To Deliver Newspapers, Passes Out And Crashes – Is Only Issued A Warning

An intoxicated mother took her four children on her daily paper route and crashed her car. She was only served a warning for not buckling up herself and her children.

Police in South Jordan, Utah, recently arrested a woman after she struck several trees with her minivan. However, being severely drunk was not as appalling as the fact that she had four children in the car. Moreover, the mother had completely neglected to buckle them up, further endangering their lives.

According to the press release issued by the South Jordan Police Department, officers were dispatched to 4353 West Lennox Drive (9433 South) after receiving a few reports about a car that had collided with a tree. When police arrived, they found 36-year-old Robin Lance of South Jordan at the crash site. She was the one who was behind the wheel of the minivan and added she had been up since 1 a.m. delivering newspapers.

Preliminary investigations indicate the mother was intoxicated. Her car had brushed against several trees before coming to halt against a phone junction box. Looking at the tire marks and damage to the trees, police concluded Lance must have passed out behind the wheel, causing the vehicle to drift off the road to its left and hit multiple trees. Apparently, the vehicle covered quite a distance, stopping only because of a robust phone junction box.

Police found her four children, ages 4, 5, 9 and 11, inside the vehicle. What’s troubling is the fact that none of them appeared to have been secured using a standard seatbelt. The children, including their mother, had sustained minor injuries which did not require medical attention, shared the officers.

When Lance was taken to the station to be processed, she was found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.306. The legal limit to drive in Utah is 0.08. Needless to say, the mother was almost four times over the legal limit and wasn’t in any condition to stay upright, let alone drive a car.

Lance was later taken to the Salt Lake County Adult Detention Center. She was initially charged with driving under the influence (DUI) with children in the vehicle, failure to maintain safe lane travel, and no proof of insurance. However, what’s surprising is that she later let off with a warning.

Driving drunk is one of the more serious offenses you can commit as it severely diminishes one’s ability to make quick decisions on the road. Bringing your children along for the deadly ride is not just reckless, but downright criminal.

[Image Credit | Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, South Jordan Police]