Monte del Sol:Teens rail over state's lax DWI laws as they mourn Rose and Julian

Isn't there a county-wide curfew of 11:00pm for kids here? Why were these teenagers driving after midnight in the first place, and according to the reports we've seen, they were driving to an after-hours party! Where were the parents?

Finally, some common sense, if realistic and hard-to-swallow in Santa Fe. A tragedy, but not solely of the making of the killer driver. In fact, we don't really know who swerved into whom, but let's leave that aside for now.

16 year old girls should not be leading a PARTAY caravan after midnight, at least where I come from.

These kids are so wise about drunk drivers.
There should be zero tolerance to DWI. One offense & no more license, no more driving. This may sound harsh to some, but statistics
show the high rate of repeat offenders, like this one. The allowable pattern seems to be keep drinking & driving until you kill someone. They rarely kill themselves. Where is the protection for the public? It takes tragedies like this to remind us of this truth. The most fitting memorial to these murdered kids is to strenthen drunk driving laws so they protect people in the future.

Dale Sklar wrote:

These kids are so wise about drunk drivers.
There should be zero tolerance to DWI. One offense & no more license, no more driving. This may sound harsh to some, but statistics
show the high rate of repeat offenders, like this one. The allowable pattern seems to be keep drinking & driving until you kill someone. They rarely kill themselves. Where is the protection for the public? It takes tragedies like this to remind us of this truth. The most fitting memorial to these murdered kids is to strenthen drunk driving laws so they protect people in the future.

You are 100% correct. One of the reasons NM is soft on drunk drivers is the high cost of incarceration. Cheaper to catch and release. Drivers with 8-10 DWI’s in NM is not uncommon. The flack from the loss of these kids will blow over in a few months and the State Legislature will not pass a serious DWI law..but I sure hope I’m wrong.

Dale Sklar wrote:

They rarely kill themselves.

Although it seems like they rarely kill themselves because the tragedies where there are innocent victims stand out in our minds, that is not actually true.

•In 2007, about 67% of alcohol-related driving fatalities were drivers with BACs of .08 or more. Approximately 17% were passengers riding with the drunk drivers.

http://www.edgarsnyder.com/auto-accident/drun...

Just keeping facts straight ...

"Amarante and Julian had become close friends in the past several months, he said, because they both loved gardening and developing tagger skills during their art class."

Tagger SKILLS?!? Students are actually taught to vandalize property in art class at Monte Del Sol?!? Is this a seriously bad misquotation? One can only hope!

Tagging is an art form when it is not done on property. You must not be from this generation; it is art! It really does take skill to do that and not all of it is done on walls.

Mel wrote:

Tagging is an art form when it is not done on property. You must not be from this generation; it is art! It really does take skill to do that and not all of it is done on walls.

Well, where does one tag if not on someone else's property? I've never seen anyone spray painting their initials on their OWN home or car. In how many places have you spray painted your name on your own house?

Mel wrote:

...and not all of it is done on walls.

...but most of it is, at least in Santa Fe.

Most of the serious accidents involving alcohol having been mostly in that area the LAW ENFORCEMENT division should be doing more DWI check points in that area. What is it gonna take

There needs to a 3 strikes law in New Mexico for repeat drunk drivers. You've got 2 chances to redeem yourself, on the 3rd conviction, a mandatory 15 year sentence, and no judge should have the authority to reduce that sentence. Tough penalties for repeat offenders is the only way to stop this insanity.

Santa Fe teenagers (Im one of them) are always smart about driving under any influence, it just doesnt happen, they either make plans to spend the night, or have dd's (some teenagers joke that they have ddd's, designated drunk drivers butits onl a joke), or at parties they take keys. Yes they shouldnt have been out there but dont all teenagers break rules. I agree with all these kids that said the law should be no chance, just instant removal of license and rehab. You all lost somebody we love and teens are safe in Santa Fe, they were doing the caravan because they were bing safe anyone who as driving was gonna be a dd.

I MISS ALL OF THEM wrote:

Santa Fe teenagers (Im one of them) are always smart about driving under any influence, it just doesnt happen, they either make plans to spend the night, or have dd's (some teenagers joke that they have ddd's, designated drunk drivers butits onl a joke), or at parties they take keys. Yes they shouldnt have been out there but dont all teenagers break rules. I agree with all these kids that said the law should be no chance, just instant removal of license and rehab. You all lost somebody we love and teens are safe in Santa Fe, they were doing the caravan because they were bing safe anyone who as driving was gonna be a dd.

See parents, your kids are out drinking underage at parties. So maybe now the denial can stop. Nice to know they are smart enough not to drink and drive though.

I MISS ALL OF THEM wrote:

Santa Fe teenagers (Im one of them) are always smart about driving under any influence, it just doesnt happen, they either make plans to spend the night, or have dd's (some teenagers joke that they have ddd's, designated drunk drivers butits onl a joke), or at parties they take keys. Yes they shouldnt have been out there but dont all teenagers break rules. I agree with all these kids that said the law should be no chance, just instant removal of license and rehab. You all lost somebody we love and teens are safe in Santa Fe, they were doing the caravan because they were bing safe anyone who as driving was gonna be a dd.

You do realize that teen agers shouldn't need a DD, they should not be drinking in the first place.

Any one who enables teens to get alcohol is just as bad as a drunk driver who kills.

If Mom and Dad leave teens with access to the liquor cabinet, they don't deserve the title of parents.

If someone bought the liquor for teens that person is as big a slime as the drunk driver who kills.

rewind wrote:

<quoted text>
See parents, your kids are out drinking underage at parties. So maybe now the denial can stop. Nice to know they are smart enough not to drink and drive though.

Not all teens drink. These kids were all determined to be sober. They were a mere 10 minutes past the curfew. Yes, there were too many kids in the car. Not a crime, just a rule violation. I'm sure when the test results come back, we'll find the other driver's alcohol level was well beyond the legal limit. We need to keep the issues in perspective here. The same accident would have taken place if the car was full of sober 40 year-olds.

Teenagers call everything a party. And its not like you guys didnt drink or do drugs when you were young, what makes you any different for us beside the fact that you are older and have life expericence and you got it the same way were getting it. I personally have been to a party like once and left early or twice but they took keys.

JUST LEAVE OUR FRIENDS' DIGNITIES INTACT, AND THEIR MEMORIES SACRED!

are you serious 'Wait a minute'? this kid is gone from this world and all you can talk about is how bad it is for him to have practiced his tagging skills. look at the situation at hand! this youngn' is gone from this world because of a drunk driver...not because of his talents, be it in art or gardening. This is exactly why new mexico's drunk driving laws are so lax because everybody is too worried about other petty laws like tagging...no one dies from graffiti...they die from drunk drivers...priorities priorities!!! ugh what a shame.

Wait a Minute wrote:

<quoted text>
Well, where does one tag if not on someone else's property? I've never seen anyone spray painting their initials on their OWN home or car. In how many places have you spray painted your name on your own house?

Seriously, get with the times. Young people have been tagging on canvas or on plywood or any other flat surface as an art form for the last 10 years. It has become a very respected form of art. Geez!!

Wait a Minute wrote:

"Amarante and Julian had become close friends in the past several months, he said, because they both loved gardening and developing tagger skills during their art class."
Tagger SKILLS?!? Students are actually taught to vandalize property in art class at Monte Del Sol?!? Is this a seriously bad misquotation? One can only hope!

Yes, this is a misquotation.. my nephew goes to monte del sol and they do NOT teach them that..

why are some ppl talking about my friend julian like that. he was an amazing guy who had a great heart you guys are talking about him like he wasnt anything special. well he was really special to me and i wont ever be able to see him again