There are a lot of people who get dumb for an evening, get a DUI, admit their mistake, and try to get on with their lives. But the story behind many drunk driving arrests shows that the DUI is sometimes just another symptom of a much larger problem. That might be alcoholism, prescription drug dependancy, or a mental disorder.
We see these two types play out in the news with public figures all the time. In fact, the added media attention a famous person receives makes those spiraling out-of-control stand out from the one-timers. We get kept up to date on the spiralers, while the one-timers pay their debt to society and quietly move on.
Amanda Bynes as Judge Trudy in an image from YouTube
Spiraling out of control seems a fitting description for Amanda Bynes these days. She gets a DUI (hitting a cop car, no less) and then goes on to show us everything from denial to disregard to dimwitted contempt.
Let’s take a look at the Amanda Bynes 2012 Timeline thusfar …
- April 6 – Hit and run with cop car; refuses breathalyzer resulting in immediate suspension of drivers license
- April 10 – Hit and run in rental car; Who rents cars to people with suspended licenses?
- June 5 – Charged with DUI; follows up on June 6 with a “Twitterfart of Denial”
- September 5 – Charged with two counts of hit and run
- September 9 – Stopped for driving without headlights and let go!!!
- September 12 – Seen and recorded smoking dope while driving; on her suspended license
- September 13 Daytime – Judge tells Amanda to obey the law and stop driving
- September 13 Nightime – Clips car exiting parking garage
- September 17 – Amanda is stopped and her car is impounded; Does she own any other vehicles?
- September 18 – Lindsay Lohan expresses her own twitterfart about the whole affair; And why shouldn’t she? Nobody has ever dragged a DUI out so publically for so many years as Lilo.
When a private citizen spirals out of control, those around him/her see it happening in bits and pieces from their individual perspectives. It can go unnoticed and untreated for a long time because the pieces don’t get put together. With a public figure like Amanda, we see the whole thing unfold before us. It became clear as soon as April 10 that Amanda Bynes needed to get help. For over 5 months she has been a threat to public safety and we really don’t know if she’s done yet. Are the streets any safer with Amanda’s car impounded? That depends on whether or not she has another car! I mean after all, we’re still not past the DENIAL phase!
Amanda,
I am an avid reader of your blog, and for a long time I have had no reason to reach out to you. Now that I am apart of a company who has a mission to combat drunk driving with new technology, Breathometer.com has created the worlds first smartphone breathalyzer. This Device combines a hardware device with a mobile app that gives you choices. think Square for drinking. Breathalizers have been around for 50 years and they only do one thing give a BAC reading, they are mostly big and bulky but deliver no options for the user. Breathometer.com has taken this to a whole new level. Now we have created a device as big as a key fob that can be carried on a keychain or in a purse. It connects to the ear jack of any smartphone, then you just breath into the device. The magic is in the software or app, so when you read your BAC and if you are close or over the legal limit. The mobile app will give you a push of a button choices to call a cab, or bring up a list of friends who’ll come get you. It will also get you a hotel room if need be. I would like to see if you would look at this new technology that is priced right for ALL consumers to have on them now. Please look at our site. I would love you to blog on it. http://www.breathometer.com/