It's The Festival's Fault

B93, one of the local radio stations, held it’s annual Birthday Bash this past weekend here in West Michigan.  The bash drew about 80,000 people, and from the little I read about it, it was a good time.  Unfortunately, after the bash, there was an accident.  A drunk driving accident, apparently, in which three individuals were killed, including the driver.  Let’s read what is known about the driver.

"The driver of a car that crashed after Saturday’s B-93 Birthday Bash, killing three people including himself, got his license back last month after a half-dozen alcohol-related convictions, records show."

A slow learner, evidently.  But that information isn’t what caught my eye in the article. It was the words uttered by the father of one of the young girls, age 22, who was also killed while riding in the vehicle.

"The father of one of Lawless’ passengers said his daughter—Rebecca Styf, 22, Hudsonville—is not a drinker, but he wants answers about the driver’s blood-alcohol level.

“If it was over the limit, then something should change” with the festival, the father said."

Now, I’m certain that the father of the young lady is devastated by her death, and I sympathize with him, thinking of my young daughters ages 17 and 21, but he is blaming the wrong culprit.  His daughter was riding with a drunk.

What’s really interesting about the above, though, is the fact that Fox Festival, which drew about 40,000 people to the same site a day after the fatal crash, disallowed alcohol.

"They agreed fest organizers made a good decision in keeping alcohol out of the event, a response to a fatal crash after following a concert at the fairgrounds Saturday."

Maybe all festival’s and beer tents should be outlawed, since the blame is no longer placed where it belongs, at an individual’s feet.

Posted by on 06/21 at 03:03 PM

  1. at an individual’s feet.

    Valid, but you missed a larger point;
    As you point out, the driver…

    ...got his license back last month after a half-dozen alcohol-related convictions...

    Why?

    I submit that the system that put him back on the highway bears at least part of the blame here. But I do agree that B-93 shouldn’t be tagged on this one.

    Posted by Bithead  on  06/21  at  08:04 PM

  2. John Venlet: Maybe all festival’s and beer tents should be outlawed, since the blame is no longer placed where it belongs, at an individual’s feet.

    Sure ... why stop at the beer tents? Maybe the entire festival should be banned for the sake of our “safety and security”?

    Haven’t you learned that Individuals possess “free will” which means they are not responsible for their actions Mr. Venlet?

    Responsibility implies consequences, but there are no ultimate consequences for our actions. Existence is random (or “chaotic") and meaningless.

    Resistence is futile.
    You will be assimilated.

    Posted by  on  06/22  at  06:47 AM

  3. That was my sister in the crash, and if you had read the whole article, or watched any of the news coverage, you would see that my dad is not blaming the festival.  we simply want to know why this guy was on the road in the first place.  why did he have his license with all of his convictions, and with all of his convictions, why was he able to purchase alcohol?  and....there needs to be a better police force at the festival.  if there’s 80,000 people there....why is there a police force of only 10? all we want is a change in how the festival is run...not for it to be canceled...we just want change

    Posted by  on  06/22  at  08:29 PM

  4. Kenikachica -

    First, may I offer my sympathies regarding the loss of your sister.  Also, thank you for expressing your thoughts, and expanding on your father’s, as quoted in the press.

    Second, in response to the desire expressed regarding change in how the festival is run.  Think of this for a moment.

    Would having a police force of 100 made any difference in the amount of alcohol Lawless drank while at the fesitval?  Possibly, but more than likely having 100 police, or 200 police, would not have changed Lawless’ drinking.

    You state "we just want change." What do you desire to be changed?  Disallow alcohol completely?  Limit the number of attendees?  Set a 2 or 3 beer minimum for those that drink?

    I agree that Lawless should not have been on the road, after drinking to the point of not being able to maintain motor control of his actions, but is that the fault of the festival, or Lawless?

    I realize that this is a difficult time for you, your parents, extended family, and friends, but even so, you must come to the realization that the end result was the result of bad choices made by the individuals involved.  The festival was simply a venue.

    Posted by  on  06/23  at  02:34 AM

  5. John;

    Perhaps I was to subtle in my comments.
    Here’s the nut of them; Government in this case, is the problem. Yes, I grant that he was the original problem… but that’s where the government is supposed to step in… indeed the very spot.. when the individual cannot keep his end of the freedom bargain, as this idiiot clearly could not. They didn’t keep him from driving… instead, They gave him back his ticket to drive despite several convictions.

    Once those convictions were made the right to make such choices should have been removed from him. They were not.

    Posted by Bithead  on  06/23  at  05:09 AM

  6. Many people can carry an elevated blood alcohol level and not “appear drunk”.  How do you know that Becky could have told what Mr. Lawless’s alcohol level was?  The media has labeled all in the car as drinkers, simply because of the beer tent wrist band present.  Becky had to have one on to enter the tent...even though she did not drink.  It was a requirement.  Were the beer cans found in the car freshly opened or left from Mr. Lawless’s previous consumption?  His prior convictions included open cans...why has the media assigned these to all of the other occupants rather than question whether these were cans left in the car previously?  Two cars going home...no room in the other.  Becky simply had to take the last seat available to get home.  Unfortunately, she was killed alongside people who were friends of friends....she never even had the chance to hear of his background.

    Posted by  on  06/23  at  07:14 PM

  7. Her Mom’s Friend -

    I do not have answers to the questions you posit above, questions that may remain unanswered.  Or, answers may be found out, regarding the questions above, which may not want to be known, or accepted.

    Posted by  on  06/24  at  02:18 AM

  8. Dude, i’m sorry about the accident, but honestly be a little bit more kind, Shawn had a family too...his sister happens to be one of my best friends…

    Posted by  on  07/04  at  10:55 AM

  9. Hello. I believe I spent the entire day next to the group involved in the accident. If there is anyone who can connect me with a picture of Shawn Lawlwss’s girlfriend, then I can know for sure. The picture of him on the front page was hard to tell. At the B-Bash the man I believe was Shawn was happy, smiling, enjoying the day (vs the “I’ve just been arrested” look in the paper). Here is one of the things that I saw makes me believe it was the same group. All day it was two men, and one young lady. Sometime late in the day they began to pack their chairs and blankets up and when they were almost done, the young lady with Mr. Lawless went ahead into the crowd a slight distance, and returned with another young lady. The second young lady followed the group out. If this was indeed the group that was killed, then Rebecca had very little exposure to Mr. Lawless, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t know how much alcohol he’d had. I watched this group all day, because of the behavior of the man I believe to be Mr. Lawless, and I have had a very hard time with guilt that I could have, should have, done something. 

    Posted by  on  07/15  at  05:10 AM

  10. I have to give my condolences to the families, however, I have to admit that any time you get into a vehicle after drinking that you are guilty of more than driving under the influence.  You are guilty of attempted vehicle manslaughter.  Think of it this way, just because you didn’t kill anyone this time, you’re not trying to avoid that possibility by lessening your ability to avoid and maintain control of yourself.  I lost my grandmother when my father was a young child.  My grandfather lived to be 62 and was killed by a drunken driver.  The drunk driver was in his 30s and had a number of convictions, yet he still had a license to kill.  Lets all remember the pain of losing the innocent drivers and drink responsibly, lets be accountable for our actions.  That is the only way we can avoid accidents, not putting a limit on how many we drink, but by choosing to be a fun sober. 

    I hope that a good lesson is learned although unfortunately at the lesson of human lives (irreplaceable).  I pray for your families and urge every responsible parent to teach their children the effects of driving drunk, and the price we pay for huge decisions. 

    Driving alone is hard enough in a crown, alcohol is a deadly mixture.  By the way, The man who killed my grandfather is from florida.  He was sentenced to thirty years without parole.  He will be sixty something upon release.  His 8 year old daughter wont get to graduate with dad in the audience, or even maybe get dad to walk her down the aisle.  That’s worse than sad, Her live will never be the same, either.  I hope and pray that we can remember this the next time we have a “GOOD TIME”!

    Posted by  on  07/16  at  06:34 PM

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