Don't Judge Car Crash Mom; Judge Alcoholism

North Carolina mother is charged with assault with a deadly weapon

(NEWSER) - Two young sisters have told police that their mom intended to hurt them in a deliberate car wreck because she was "mad at daddy," according to investigators. The girls, ages 7 and 8, were treated for cuts and bruises after mom Teresa Caffrey of North Carolina drove their car into a ditch earlier this week. "The children conveyed information to my officers saying she had been arguing with their father and that she was 'mad at daddy' and that's why she wrecked the car," said the local police commander. Caffrey has been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, and faces additional charges of child abuse and possession of a controlled substance. The girls have been placed with an aunt and grandmother, reports ABC News . More»

Jackie Hance recounts grief over Taconic Parkway accident

(NEWSER) - "Our baby is due in the fall" is how Jackie Hance ends her Ladies' Home Journal essay. The otherwise unremarkable line is anything but, considering that the Long Island woman is the mother of three young girls killed in a horrific accident on New Jersey's Taconic Parkway in 2009. Five others also died in the crash, when Hance's sister-in-law crashed head-first into an SUV. Toxicology reports showed high amounts of alcohol and marijuana in her system, notes ABC News . More»

New Yorker Keith Gruber jailed after showing up with open can

(NEWSER) - Late, drunk, and carrying an open can of Busch beer is no way to show up to a DWI hearing. Upstate New Yorker Keith Gruber—who has prior DWI convictions—was more than an hour late for the 10:30am hearing and had four more unopened cans of beer in his bag, authorities said. The judge asked Gruber if he enjoyed his "liquid lunch," then revoked his bail and sent him to jail, the Middletown Times Herald-Record reports. (Click for another tale of a not-so-smart tippler .) More»

(USER SUBMITTED) - When a vehicle containing marijuana paraphernalia was stopped at a DWI checkpoint in New Jersey last weekend, two 18-year-old boys and two 15-year-old girls were inside, and police called their parents to pick up them up. First problem: When the 46-year-old mother of one of the girls showed up, police say she was drunk and charged her with driving while intoxicated. They released the girl to another adult. More»

UK man barred from driving for 3 years after drunken spin in 4mph vehicle

(NEWSER) - A British man who went for a drive with a blood-alcohol content more than twice the legal limit has lost his license for 3 years—even though the vehicle in question is a battery-powered Barbie car with a top speed of 4mph. Paul Hutton was on his way to see a friend when he got pulled over, the 40-year-old father of four tells the Daily Mail . "The police car came up alongside me and the officer said, 'Are you all right there?' When I tried to talk I realized how drunk I was." More»