OUI vs. vehicular manslaughter — OK, let’s take a look at what we have here: a bus driver, responsible for transporting young children to and from school, arrested for being allegedly legally intoxicated at 11 a.m. or so. Obviously, that has the appearance of one with an alcohol problem. She (the bus driver) is arrested and booked for state violation of OUI with a breath test result of 0.17 percent. The state of Maine recognizes being legally drunk at 0.08 percent.

The bus driver is booked and released on personal recognizance bail just a few hours after the incident and instructed by the Saco police not to drive her vehicle home, to find a ride.

Even though all involved were trying to use a little compassion here, that was very poor judgment. The body absorbs alcohol at a rate of 0.015 percent per hour after drinking, therefore, the bus driver would not have been legally sober for a minimum of 11 hours after the booking. That resulted in the release of a person who was still legally drunk to make yet another irrational decision, thinking she was OK to drive herself home.

What if she had hit a child or any pedestrian on her way home and death was the result? Who now is in the wrong?

Fred Grace,West Paris