A friend of mine was a Kentucky state trooper, with nearly twenty years on the job. Five years ago, on a late night shift right before Christmas Eve, he witnessed a pickup sideswiping a vintage-model sedan on I-75 south of Lexington. While the truck sped off, the sedan hit the emergency lane, rolled twice, and came to rest on its top. My friend radioed dispatch with a description of the truck, and then ran to the wreck. It was already burning, and he could hear screaming from inside. Lots of screaming. He ran back to his cruiser, snatched up the fire extinguisher, and then ran back to the car. By then it was fully involved, and the screams it emitted were nightmarish. The extinguisher proved of little use. By the time the EMTs and fire department workers got there, the entire family--mom, dad, and three kids all under six years of age--were dead. The drunk was caught two exits up, and was so trashed he didn't even know what he'd done. A week later my friend quit the force, saying that night was the worst thing he'd ever witnessed. Yeah, drunk driving is really funny.
