Merry drunk driver crashes into house

SEETA PERSAD

A drunk driver who was having a wail of a time at a bar in Debe, south Trinidad late Saturday afternoon, posted a video on the social media site - facebook - with beer in hand and dancing to the strain of soca music.

In his drunken stupor, he got behind the wheels of a car and drove off, hoping to reach home to his family safe and sound. But, just minutes into his journey along the Wellington Road, Debe, he ran off the road and crashed into the dining room of a house, almost destroying their building completely.

Fortunately, two separate families who live in the house were not inside and police said yesterday that they have been thanking God they are alive, having been spared the horror of being smashed in by a car in their own dining room.

The wall to their dining room crushed, furniture destroyed and strewn about the house, they are thanking God for dear life. Reena Sookhai, 38, who lives in the house with her husband and three children, said that two families narrowly escaped death.

Police responded immediately when the Nissan Note car smashed into the house and arrested the driver who was administered a breathalyser test. He was up to last night in police custody and was expected to be charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Two separate families lived in the house. One family of a wife, husband and three children live upstairs and the other, a family of a wife, husband and one child, reside downstairs of the house located at Wellington Road. Both families were liming at the side of the house and witnessed the incident. According to a police report, it was at about 6.15 pm when the driver was proceeding along Wellington Road and on reaching in front of the families’ house, the car suddenly veered off the road and slammed into the home. Residents said that the driver was speeding. The police report stated that the other occupants, Reshma Ragbir, her husband and daughter, occupy the downstairs, but luckily, were also out of the house at the time.

The house’s owner Vijanti Seudath, who is the aunt of Sookhai and Ragbir, told Newsday that her relatives were lucky to be alive because on Saturday afternoon, they all would usually be sitting in the dining room downstairs viewing television. “On this day they were all outside,” Seudath said.

Seudath said when they saw the car speeding, the driver seemed to have lost control. The car then crashed against wall and the concrete came down as the car plunged further into the room. Slabs of concrete fell on the car and there was a loud explosion. The family furniture, such as a television, a spacesaver with murtis (images) of Hindu Gods, were destroyed along with tables, chairs, stereos, and speaker boxes

Police said that the driver of the vehicle emerged unharmed and waited for the police to arrive on the scene. The report stated that a breathalyser was administered and he was taken into custody. He is due to be charged with failing a breathalyser test and is expected to appear in the San Fernando Magistrates’ court today.

Seudath confirmed to Newsday that checks on social media - facebook - revealed that the driver had posted a video of himself drinking at bar in Debe minutes before the incident took place. She said,”This is a warning for all those who post videos and photos and boast about it.”