Erin Cox is a hero, not a villian

The story of Erin Cox has been in the news recently. She is an honor student in Massachusetts. Captain of her Volleyball team. All-American girl. But recently all of that came to a crashing halt and her future has been forever changed due to a possible drunk driving incident.

Now I know what you’re thinking. What did this girl do? Was she drinking and driving? Is she another story of someone who seriously injured another driver? This is a DUI blog right? You only post about Seattle DUI news, and all the negative publicity DUI cases have been getting recently. Well the answer is no, no, no and no.

This girl was contacted by a friend who was a party. The friend had been drinking and needed a ride home. Erin decided to pick this friend up rather than have them drink and drive. When she stopped by the party however the Police arrived and issued summons for everyone at the party, including Erin.

Now she was not drinking. All the parties involved in this incident agree, even the police. However when her school found out should had been issued a summons she was stripped of her status as Captain of the Volleyball team, and suspended for 5 games. Not to mention all the negative publicity she has had from this, and the record of her Court summons. All for violating some stupid school policy for technically being near a party serving alcohol.

As a parent I think this is such BS. If my daughter did what Erin did I would be very proud of her. Proud she has friends who know that she can be counted on, and proud that she is a good enough friend to pick someone up in the middle of the night.

When I was in high school I was in this exact situation. A couple of friends called me at 3 in the morning. They were drunk and needed a ride home. After the phone call I went upstairs and explained the situation to my parents. They let me leave the house and go pick up my friends. Now I didn’t have anything happen to me like Erin did, but I guess thinking back I could have. But knowing what I know now, I wouldn’t have changed a thing. And I don’t believe this girl did anything wrong.

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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a Seattle Bellevue DUI Lawyer in Western Washington. His practice focuses on representing those charged with DUI and other traffic offenses. He is rated as a Top Seattle DUI Attorney by Avvo.com, and was named a Rising Star in the field of DUI Defense by Seattle Met Magazine, an honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive.