A fool thinks he gets better at drunken driving with practice

There aren’t very many Keith Ursos on the road, for which we should all be eternally grateful.

Urso represents the worst of the worst among drunken drivers. But as the year-end holiday season approaches, it is not a bad thing for even social drinkers to consider the worst-case scenarios that can evolve from mixing gasoline and alcohol.

Urso, for those who have already put his name out of their minds, is Trumbull County’s recalcitrant drunken driver who is, finally, serving serious prison time. He was sentenced by Judge Andrew Logan to 10 years behind bars on the occasion of his 15th conviction for driving under the influence. If he serves the full 10 years, he will be 60 when he emerges. For his sake and society’s let’s hope that those 10 years are a sobering experience.

Lessons unlearned

We are not optimistic on that count. Urso continued to amass drunken driving arrests for almost three decades after he killed a young woman by ramming his car into a hay wagon in 1982. He was drunk then, as he was dozens of subsequent times when he was arrested behind the wheel. A one-year prison term in 2006 didn’t keep him from recidivism. At the time of his most recent arrest in January, his blood alcohol level was 0.286 — 31/2 times the legal limit.

Few drivers will rise to the example set by Urso. But even the first time a driver gets behind the wheel drunk could result in arrest, accident or death. Urso spent a lifetime gambling with others people’s lives before he finally paid consequences commensurate with his crimes.

This holiday, plan ahead with a designated driver. If you have even a suspicion that you’ve drunk too much, call a taxi, a friend or a relative. If you ignore that advice you may find you have very little to celebrate in the new year.