News
Editorial: Serious consequences
Scott Wagar
07/03/2012
On June 12, Derek A. Maxwell of Cartwright, MB, had his initial court date after serving alcohol to minors which caused the crash of the minors’ vehicle, killing one instantly and leaving the other with extensive injuries in Rochester, Minn. hospital.
With the Fourth of July holiday, and a good part of the summer still to take place, it is important to remember that adults providing alcohol to minors can have serious consequences.
The incident I mentioned in my introduction, took place in Towner County. Maxwell, who holds duel-citizenship in America and Canada, tends bar at Jack’s Bar in Hansboro, N.D. On March 30, Maxwell served alcohol to Matthew Kurtti of Rolla and Dustin Hendrickson of Rock Lake late into the evening.
When the two minors left the bar, they entered into a pickup, which Kurtti was driving, and within minutes of leaving the bar Kurtti lost control of the vehicle at a high speed and rolled the truck six times. Kurtti, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle and killed. Hendrickson, who was wearing a seatbelt, stayed in the pick-up, but sustained serious injuries. He ended up at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, (A sister hospital to Mayo Clinic) where he has had to undergo numerous surgeries, but is recovering.
There are many lessons we can learn from this incident. The first lesson is that if you are an adult, bar owner or even a bartender, if you provide alcohol to someone you know is a minor or is intoxicated, you can be charged with a crime. According to Sheriff Steve Watson of Bottineau County, who pointed out this Hansboro incident to the Bottineau Courant, this crime is a Class A misdemeanor which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2,000 fine.
The second lesson we can learn is the importance of always wearing a seatbelt while in a vehicle, because a seatbelt can save a person’s life.
Nowhere is this better seen than in this accident in Hansboro. The young man not wearing a seatbelt died, while the other person’s life was saved because he had a seatbelt on.
Here at the Bottineau Courant, I have the responsibility in taking care of the North Dakota Highway Department’s accident reports that come over our news wire. An interesting factor about viewing all the state’s accident reports is that the majority of all people who are killed in an accident did not have their seatbelts on, which is the primary reason why people are killed in a car or truck accident. Putting on a seatbelt literally takes a few seconds, and more than likely will save your life in an accident.
The third lesson for all of us to learn from this alcohol related incident is that as adults, we are, and should be, responsible in making sure that underage kids do not receive alcohol from us. We are the young people’s guardians, and we should make it our responsibility to make sure we never provide kids with alcohol, because it can have dire consequences like the accident in Towner County.
It is the Fourth of July, and summer is upon us, and we all want everyone to enjoy the warm months of the year. However, please remember if you are an adult that it is illegal, and dangerous, to provide alcohol to kids, which in the end could cause injury or even fatal circumstances; and, a place in jail with a costly fine for yourself.