Or, why we need to get serious about drivers who hit and kill or injure bicyclists and pedestrians:

A drunk driver named Juanita Wright who hit and seriously injured five pedestrians in a crosswalk last year---sending four to the hospital, two of them in intensive care, and causing one woman a brain injury so severe it required the removal of part of her skull---was sentenced to a mere 29 months in prison on three counts of vehicular assault and one count of reckless driving this week. Wright's blood-alcohol content was 0.29, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent. When Wright was arrested, police found her car full of empty beer and fortified beer cans, and a six-pack of beer on the floorboard by her feet.

Wright was charged with drunk driving in 1990 but never prosecuted. Seattle court records show that she was also charged with drinking in public in 1997, but that case, too, was dismissed. In 1988, she was charged for driving without a valid license, but was given a suspended sentence.

Given good behavior, Wright will likely be behind the wheel of a car again in two years or less.