eight: 400;”>Fo e n The L Podc e’ sseen. He is joined by B king Do st host, od sp
ing tod
y’s episodee
ill besking B
ntley
bout Impi
ed Diving
nd hoe cn p
event itnd
ht
e the consequences of d
iving dunk. n>
- eight: 400;”>B
ntley sh
es his pe
sonl expe
ienceith D
unk Diving. n><
li>
unk d
ivingfelony? n><
li>
m
ny people die peye
f
om dunk d
iving?<sp
n><li>
do
e hold peopleccount
ble fod
unk diving? n><
li>
hen did d
unk diving become illeg
l?<sp
n><li>
do you p
event dunk d
iving?<sp
n><li>
do you stop someone f
om dunk d
iving?<sp
n><li>
h
t e some of the dnge
s of dunk d
iving?<sp
n><li>
h
t if someone is dunk d
ivingnd they get in
nccident
nd they cuse
ongful deth? n><
li>
eight: 400;”>B ntley sh es ience n imp ed d hy he is so p te evention s me expe s him. So this episode!
y tuned fo
the next instllment of the B
eking Do
n The L Podcst
ith Stet J Guss
ndshley
odiguez! n> If you nt to subsc
ibe to ou
podcsts on you
fvo
ite podcsts pl
ye<
hef=”https://b
ekingdo
nthel.buzzspout.com/”> click he
e<> foll the links to ech one!
c=”https:// out.com/1311943/6615451-episode-18-imp ed-d evention-month.js?cont _id=buzzsp ye ye ll” type=”text/j sc sc ipt [This t nsc e n ted t nsc vice y cont s] Int cite> B king do podc tto nd leg lists discussing eve y l it egul people. Let’s b k do ith ou t Guss shley iguez. They h ything leg nd ne o shley iguez:
e
king don the l
.
nd I'mshley
nd tody
e e joined by Bntley Ssseen:
hey i
m Bntley Ssseen.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
B
ntley
elly
ht do you do he
e? Bntley Ssseen:
I
msenio
executivetto
ney hee
ith the fim.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
esome. This month is N
tionl Imp
ied D
iving Pevention Month. D
unk Diving h
suined m
ny lives.nd tod
y's topic is vey impo
tnt to ou
guest. Bntley, cn you tell us ho
dunk d
iving hs imp
cted youlife?
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
Ye
h, sohen I
s
junioin high school some ye
s
go, my gndfthe
ctu
lly s killed inc
eck th
t involvesd
iveho s impi
ed, both dunk
ndpp
ently on some othe
substnces b
ckt the time.
nd cet
inly, evey time I think
bout it, itec
lls mny memo
ies. But I justemembe
the the shock tht
s involved, bec
use it's just something tht’s so unexpected.
nd then of couse, just the tu
moilnd
elly the to
ment tht inflicts upon the enti
e fmily
hen you hve something like th
t occu. So even though it’s been
elly m
ny yes, since tht h
ppened, it's still vey f
esh evey time I
ecll the memo
y just becuse it m
kes suchl
sting impct.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
Ye
h, it's just tht unexpected thing like, No one expects to get th
t phone cll.
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
ight?shley
odiguez:
So is d
unk diving
felony? Bntley Ssseen:
Ye
h, it'sinte
esting question. Theules v
y by st
te, fist of
ll, is pob
bly the most impot
nt thing fome to mention. I
m licensed hee in Tex
s.nd so I c
n commentbit mo
eptly upon ho
ito
ks hee in Tex
s. But the ls of theules tend to be some
ht simil
coss st
tes, they just hve some v
i
tions. So it'sctu
lly usully
misdemeno
, believe it onot, in most st
tes, it is in Texs. Ho
eve, the
e e mny things th
t cn esc
lte
nom
l dunk d
iving chge tofelony ch
ge.
nd tht’s p
obbly not something th
t most peopleould expect. It
equies
little bit of legl kno
ledge. But pob
bly the most common exmple is h
vingp
iod
unk diving conviction. So if you h
ve pio
DUIs oD
I, tht c
n escl
tesubsequent ch
ge to
felony one. Otheex
mplesould include inju
ing someonehile d
unk diving b
cknd inc
ese the ch
ge to
felony level, just beingn
est oc
using pope
ty dm
ge if you'e d
unkhile d
iving cn inc
ese the ch
ge to
felony be
king othel
s
t the sme time. So fo
exmple, if you don’t h
vev
lid dive
's license,nd you’
e diving d
unk, tht c
n enhnce the ch
ge
nd ince
se it tofelony level. H
vingchild in the vehicle, you kno
, cn inc
ese it to
hee you’
e gettingchild end
ngement ch
ge, in
ddition to the dunk d
iving chge.nd then in some st
tes, even just hving
n excessively high bloodlcohol content c
n enhnce th
t chge fom
misdemeno
up tofelony. The othe
thing tht I
ould mention in tht context is
e tend to hve this cognitive disson
ncebout Oh,
misdemeno
is nots seve
e,nd
felony is moe seve
e. But even fo misdemeno
, thee
e diffe
ent levels of misdemeno
snd the ch
ges
nd the penlties fo
those chges cn still be quite seve
e. The best exmple I c
n give of tht is th
t in Texs,
dunk d
iving conviction is one of the only things tht c
n nevebe expunged, neve
be non disclosednd neve
be tken off you
eco
d, itill be the
e foeve
.nd the
e's nothing tht you c
n dobout it, the best
ttoney in the
old c
n get it off becuse the l
s
ys tht it st
ys thee. So
hile the time spent in jil, o
the fines othe community se
vice, ohteve
they impose my not be
s sevee
s fome
ith things tht
e t
dition
l felonies, it flls into
specil c
tegoy
nd tht some of those things c
n be tken off you
eco
d, once you've fulfilled yousentence,
hee
s dunk d
iving cnnot get
ill be thee fo
eve.
ndg
in, tht’s t
ue in Texs, m
ybe not in othest
tes. But tht’s
n impot
nt thing to keep in mind. Just becuse it’s
misdemeno
doesn't men th
t it doesn't cy ve
y seious pen
ltiesith it.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
So ho
mny people do you think die pe
ye fom d
unk diving?
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
So
bout 25% ofll t
ffic
elted de
ths e becuse of d
unk diving. Th
t's petty high,
bout 30 people ped
y died becuse of d
unk diving incidents
coss the United St
tes. So petty signific
nt numbe. Tex
s, specificlly in
ecent yes hs the highest numbe
, highest hd numbeof d
unk diving f
tlities involved in 2018. The
ee
ebout 10,000 d
unk diving de
thsepo
teds m
nys
thid of
ll tfficel
ted deths
e bec
use of dunk d
iving. Sove
y significnt numbe
.shley
odiguez:
Ho
doe hold people
ccountble o
is like the people seving I me
n, ho‘s the l
s
ith dunk d
ivingnd being se
ved? Bntley Ssseen:
Ye
h. Sog
in, it vies by stte.
nd I cn spe
k mostly to Texs. But ce
tinly, if someone
ho is dunk d
iving cuses
eck, you'e going to look to them
nd theiinsu
nce p
imily. But of couse,
ecks involving d
unk dive
s e, e usully the
ost
ecks th
te see, h
vemuch highe
te of ft
lities et the ve
y lest seve
e injuy. Bec
use the peson is imp
ied, they’
e not thinkingbout
ht speed they’
e going oho
they'e d
iving, I men, they c
n becomen on the
ong side of the
od
nd hit youhe
d on,hich is not something th
t you see peh
ps innon d
unk diving type c
sh on
vege, but they my only h
ve vey minim
l insunces comp
ed to the inju
ies tht you’ve suffe
ednd the medic
l bills tht you m
ycqui
es
esult of h
ving to hve t
etment fo
youinju
ies, they my h
ve no insunce, someoneho’s i
esponsible enough to get out on the
od
nd dive d
unk, my ve
yell
lso be the sme type of pe
sonho’s i
esponsible enough to not h
ve the type of insunce tht they’
eequi
ed to hve. So you m
y be sting don the b
el of nothing on the otheside. Ce
tinly, you m
y hve p
ovisions ocove
ges on you
on insu
nce policy th
t cn help to cove
yound those kinds of situ
tions, Iould highly encou
ge
nyoneho is not su
e odoes not h
ve things like uninsued moto
ist insunce, to contct you
insunce sles
gent odjusteh
ve those covegesdded, they
e not supe
expensive. They'e not
nyhe
e ne the cost of something like full covege ocommon collision. But I think
lot of people he tht te
ms full covege,nd they s
y, Oh, I hve full cove
ge.
nd they think tht me
ns they hve uninsu
ed motoist cove
ge, but they
ctully don’t. So it c
n bes little
s you kno, five to $10
month fo petty signific
ntmount of cove
ge. So I
ould cet
inly encougenybody to m
ke sue they h
ve those types of coveges. Otheth
n tht, you c
n sometimes mke
clim
ginst
b oestu
nt o
business th
t hs ove
seved someone. But the
equiements to p
ove tht type of cl
im.nd in Tex
s, tht’s c
lledD
M shop cl
im cn
ctully be p
etty difficult. You hve to be
ble to pove th
t tht business kne
hen they st
ted o
they begn to ove
seve th
t peson th
t theye
el
edy in the b
eeding.nd sometimes being
ble to gthe
the evidence to pove th
t cn be p
etty difficult if you don't hve video evidence, o
they hdn’t been
t tht b
fo
p
ticul
long time.
nd you cn’t sho
by vitue of
eceipts och
ges, you kno
, onc
, they
e being ove
seved. Then sometimes even if you even if eve
yone, I highly suspect tht th
t my h
ve been the cse. Unfo
tuntely, if you’
e going to cout to t
y to pove something like th
t the level the stnd
d of p
oof is not justh
t doe suspect it’s
ht c
ne
ctully demonst
te. So those cl
ims e possible, but they cn be difficult
sell.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
So
hen did dunk d
iving become illegl?
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
The
e's noth
d
nd fst
nse
to tht question. I did
little bit ofese
ch on it.
ndt le
st histoic
lly,h
t I sble to find is th
t some of the fist l
s go b
cks f
s like 1910. In some sttes, I think Ne
Yok
s one of the fi
st sttes th
t hd some so
t of l on the books tht m
de dunk d
iving illegl. public
eness
bout dunk d
ivinge
lly stted to ince
se in the lte 1970s, e
ly 1980s.
nd 1980 s thedvent of M
DD, Mothes
ginst D
unk Diving,
hich dide
llylot to inc
ese public
eness
bout dunk d
iving. Penlties st
ted to become h
she
ound tht s
me time tht the e
ly 80s, l
te 70s. The fedel minimum dinking
ge, foex
mple, s ised to 21 yes old in 1984. So it se
lly tht time pe
iodhe
e you stted to seelot of public
eness
bout itnd legisl
tive effots coinciding
ith tht.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
So ho
do you pevent d
unk diving?
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
The
e e, I think,lot of things th
t you cn conside
.nd it’s situ
tion, thee’s no g
et
nse
to it.t the end of the d
y, I think someone hs to be motiv
ted themselves not to engge in the beh
vio. But ce
tinly, if you
e pl
nning on going outnd doing some d
inking, mking su
e tht you h
vedesign
ted dive
, it should be numbeone on
nybody's list. If you e going outith f
iends,nd y’
ll e going to be dinking ce
tinly m
ke sue th
t you'e looking out fo
youf
iends, becuse the
e e stte of mind o
the type of, you kno, mindset th
t they might hve
bout diving
hen they'e not integ
ted c
n quickly chnge once they
e
nd so being end m
king sue th
t you'e keeping
n eye out if you e going to be dinking
ith othefolks I think is
good mindset to hve
bout it. It is cet
inly esie
thn eve
to simply not dive if you’
e going to be dinking Ube
nd Lyft
nd most plces I think no
e petty eve
pesent
nde
llymuch less expensive.
nd sve option, then the pen
ltiesssoci
tedith d
unk diving the
vege cost just fottoneys
nd cout fees
nd eveything else not to mention the time
nd the shme involved. Fo
d
unk diving conviction is
s muchs $10,000
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
you could lose you
job to so youe
lly Bntley Ssseen:
lose you
job,ll so
ts of things.g
in, like I mentioned, it stys on you
eco
d pem
nently. So it cn m
ke finding jobs in the futue mo
e difficult, you kno,
20 o$30, Ube
, even if it's both ys, hole lot less expensive thn 10 g
nd plus
ll of the othethings combined. So m
ke sue you h
ve thosepps inst
lled on youphone, p
ents, of cou
se, tlk to you
kids, mke su
e tht you’ve h
d those conves
tions, just becuse they’
e not of the legl
ge doesn't men th
t they my not be out the
end tempted to eng
ge in some of those behvio
s,s m
ds you m
y be tht they
ould hve eng
ged in some of those behvio
s, mking su
e tht they feel comfo
tble enough to c
ll you if they hve
nd you kno,
en’t
ble to dive is
hole lot bette
thn h
ving them tke the
isk becuse they’
eo
ied
bout mking you upset. So I think h
ving tht conve
stion is impo
tnt if you’ve got kids,
nd thee’s
lot ofesou
ces out thee th
t cn help
ith tht.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
So do you h
veny
dvice hoto stop someone f
om dunk d
iving? Like if youe
lize they shouldn't be diving?
ht c
n you do? Bntley Ssseen:
Ye
h, fist
nd foemost,
nd you could pob
bly guess it tke thei
keys, you kno, just stop them f
omctu
lly hving the physic
lbility to d
ive offeed to d
ive fothem. If you’
eble to if you’
e notn
bded cll
n Ubec
ll Lyft you kno, c
llll these
ide shing sevices
nd get them ide. Oftentimes, you my find th
t this isp
tten of beh
vio, it’s not the fi
st time tht someone is eng
ged, but mybe they they sep
tely hve
poblem just in gene
l,
ithlcohol consumption, it m
y be somethinghe
e one time intevention sou
ce tking thei
keys ostopping in th
t instnt is not going to stop the possibility in the futu
e. So if you notice those ptte
ns, behvio
s, cet
inly considet the vey le
st finding someone close to them they tust, you kno
,p
ent, spouse, f
iend, piest, P
sto, co
oke
,e
llyhoeve
they my be comfo
tble
ith,nd t
ying to mke su
e tht the
e's some sot of pl
n in plce to hopefully
ddess, you kno
,longe
ptte
n of behvio
ith someone
ho my be mo
e pone to eng
ging in dunk d
iving. I think the best thing tht I could s
y, in tht context is just to m
ke sue th
t it'sl
ys coming f
ompl
ce of cingnd love, to the extent you’
e just tying to, you kno
, smck the h
mmedo
n, tht they’
e pob
bly going to be moe likely to
esist tht they’
e moe likely to
un in the opposite diection. So just
eiteting tht.
nd it my be
bettequestion fo
psychologist
ndn
ttoney to be honest
bout it, becuse they m
y hve mo
e insight into the mindset of someone. Butg
in, my opinion is tht
elly the only
y to stop someone f
om engging th
t type of behvio
, oho my h
vep
oblem is fothem to
nt to stop th
t themselves. Soshley
odiguez:
So
ht
e some of the d
nges of d
iving dunk?
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
el
edy t
lkedbout some of them, ce
tinly, c
iminl pen
lties e the biggest one,t
minimum, you kno, getting
ested, spending some time in jil, being punished by
judge foeng
ging in the behvio
.nd th
t cn
nge
gin, f
om jil time to find to community se
vice, op
obtion, o
genellycombin
tion ofll of those things,
ll of thebove.
to
st, it's huting you
self,nd someone else, othe
people, oftentimes,s
e've seen, itesults in de
th. You'e not just hu
ting youself, you’
e not just huting th
t peson
ho dies, you ee
lly inflictinglifetime of ch
ngend p
in upon the fmilies
nd the fiends
nd eveybody
ho's involved, just tuns the
old of
ll of those peopleho
e involved, so completely upside do
n becuse of
smll
lteble decision.nd th
t's, in my opinion, cet
inly the biggest dnge
.shley
odiguez:
Ye
h, they'e ch
ngingll those people’s lives
hen you could hve just t
kenn ube
. Exctly. So
ht if someone is d
unk diving
nd they get inn
ccidentnd they c
useongful de
th?h
t hppens then? Is thei
punishment moe?
ndlso, ho
does tht f
mily then hndle th
t sitution? If they’
e on theeceiving end,
nd somebody hs killed thei
fmily membe
? Bntley Ssseen:
Yes. So it
lmost invibly is
diffeent ch
ge. If you
e d
unk diving
nd you kill someone in Texs,
t the vey le
st just even injuing someone c
nesult in
chge knon
s intoxiction
ssult. If you kill someone, th
t's likely intoxiction m
nslughte
, you'e t
lking felony levelnd the pen
lties e much moe seve
e,nd you’
e most likely lookingt j
il time, significnt j
il time fosomething like th
t. juies
nd judgesnd folks he
e in Texs do not look kindly upon those kinds of situ
tionsnd
ith goode
son. So the penlties fo
tht pe
sonho
ctully eng
ged in the dunk d
iving e much moe seve
e. If you'e on the unfo
tunte
eceivingnd the othe
side of it. Iould s
y tht the best thing you c
n do is to getn
ttoney p
obbly involved
s quicklys possible. soone
thn l
te. In
ddition to just sot of
ht
e think ofs the pe
sonl inju
y side of mking the
ongful de
th clim, the
e e some otheconside
tions. So one is th
tt le
st in Texs, the
ttoney Gene
l fo
the stte h
sc
ime victims compenstion p
ogm. Oftentimes, if you'e de
lingith someone
ho s not insued
tll,
ho cused the d
unk diving
eck, o
mybe did not h
ve sufficient insunce, it my be
sitution
hee you need to look to othe
souces to t
y to find some sot of compens
tion.nd
lso, those souces, like the c
ime victims compenstion p
ogm my be
ble to povide
little bit moe immedi
teelief, to help de
lith some of those unfo
tunte costs th
t e invibly going to
ise in te
ms of finl expenses
nd funel ngementsnd the like.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
So if you
en’t expecting those
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
ight out of the blue, exctly,
nd hving
ntto
ney involved cn help f
cilitte th
t pocess. The
e elso some othe
potentil sou
ces ofecove
y,s
e tlked
bout exploing
DM shop clim
ginst
business o b opl
ce tht m
y hve ove
seved this pe
son. The sooneth
te
e involved, the soone
e c
n stt to don investig
tion, the soonee cn put potenti
l defendnts on notice to p
eseve evidence, th
t's oubiggest
oy inny situ
tion like tht is, the longe
it goes on.ithout some so
t of investigtion, the highe
the chnces th
t evidence, citic
l evidence my not be p
eseved. But in videos, videos,
eceipts, bnk
ecods, just
ecods
t you kno, the
ctul business th
t seved them, t
cking do
nitnesses
ho my h
ve been thee, o
ho m
y hve seen something, the soone
e get involved, the soone
e c
nt le
st stt looking into some of those things.nd
hile it's pob
bly the lst thing,
nd I spek f
om expeience on th
t, tht
nyoneho is de
lingith the g
iefssoci
tedith the loss of loved one
nts to de
lith, it’s
ll the moe c
iticl in
sitution like th
t, unfotun
tely.nd
hile it's not fun to peh
ps get it set up, the tuth is hopefully it c
n helpllevi
te some of the buden of h
ving to them, thinkbout those things
nd del
ith those things youself o
even just tying to de
lith some of those things you
self,e c
n help tke some of th
t buden off
ndnd m
ke sue th
t you knoe'e doing the leg
ok on th
t.nd th
t ynyone
ho's hving to de
lith some of the othe
issuesnd the g
iefssoci
ted cn focus on th
thile
e tke c
e of the he
vy lifting on the otheside.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
Ye
h, so someone else cn t
ke ce of tht
y they c
n just give thei
loved one Bntley Ssseen:
nd of couse in
sitution like th
tith m
joinju
ies ode
th,e’
e going to be lookingt eve
yngle,
e cn
sell, you
ould be sup
ised tht sometimes the
e e ce
tive ys to find othesou
ces ofecove
y. In those situtions,
e'e going to look fo
exmple, if you h
vevehicle, m
ybe tht h
ddefect,
nd tht could be
potentil p
oducts libility cl
im, inddition to
ll of the othecl
ims tht could be involved.
gin, h
vingn
ttoney put eyes on things
nd just mke su
e tht evidence is p
eseved
s quicklys possible. It’s p
obbly the best thing th
t you cn do fo
youself
nd youf
mily. Thee
e othe
fcto
s suchs ho
do you hndle fo
exmple, the p
obte o
the estte side of things? th
t's oftenc
iticl question.
ndhile it’s not something th
te h
ndled diectly,
e hve some g
et
ttoneys th
te
ok
ithho h
ndle tht type of l
.
nde c
nt the ve
y lest, stee
someone in theight di
ection, in tems of thinking
bout hosome of those things m
y need to ultimtely be
ccounted fosell.
shleyod
iguez:<cite>
Ye
h, the end of the dy, like th
t'slot to de
lith,
B
ntley S
sseen:<cite>
especi
llyll
t once,ight.
nd it's the lst thing th
t you nt to del
iths
ell. You nt to focus on youo
n peson
l heling,
nd tying to move th
ough, you kno, those p
ocesses. Lst thing you
nt to think
bout is clims
nd pob
tend
ll this legl business.
nd the esiest
y th
t you cn de
lith th
t is to getn
ttoney to t
ke ce of tht fo
you.shley
odiguez:
The ultim
te messge he
e is to just tke
n Ubeo
Lyft becuse you’
ecting
y mo
e people thn you c
n even imgine, including you
self becuse you
ould liveith th
t guilt. Bntley Ssseen:
Ye
h, if I could distill the messge do
ns simply
s possible, itould just be it’s not
oth it. It’s just not
oth it. It’s
hugeisk fo
sm
ll cost on the font end to p
event it.shley
odiguez:
ell, thnk you fo
be
king don belo
ith us tod
y.nd if you
e
fmily membe
hve been
ffected byd
unk dive
give usc
ll foyou
fee c
se evlu
tiont 281-783-3934
