THIS TIME OF YEAR can be full of anticipation as students prepare for their school's prom and although they may have planned a fun evening with their friends, deadly danger can be waiting just around the corner.
According to the California Highway Patrol, there were 92,839 DUIs in 2009 statewide. Also there were 45,923 alcohol-related traffic collisions, with 26,058 people injured and 1,263 fatalities.
Tracy resident Lori Martin knows firsthand the results of drinking and driving.
On April 10, 1992, while driving home from work, a drunken driver struck her car head on. Lori was just 16 at the time and a Tracy High School junior. At the scene of the accident, Lori was found unconscious and unresponsive. Extrication took 40 minutes using the Jaws of Life, then she was taken by helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital in Stockton.
"Before the accident I was doing great in school, involved in sports and had lots of friends," Lori said. "The drunk driver changed all of that and my joys of the teenage years vanished. No prom, no fancy dress, no date -- just a wheelchair with braces."
Although Lori survived the collision, her nightmare was just beginning. She had suffered numerous injuries, including a swollen brain, several broken and dislocated bones, a collapsed lung, cracked ribs, torn tendons, multiple fractures, a lacerated liver and paralysis on her left side. While still in the hospital, Lori slipped
into a coma for 100 days.
The drunken driver whose car collided with Lori's car, was not wearing a seat belt at the time and was ejected through his windshield. He survived and was arrested with a .28 blood alcohol level, more than three times the state limit of .08.
"Please think before you drink and always designate a sober driver," Lori said. "Would you want this to happen to you? The drunk driver took more then just my prom away from me ... he took my life (as I knew it) and a big part of my future. I think the first step is to get the drunks off the roads and not become one yourself."
"The worst fatality I've ever been to involved a DUI where four people were killed," said CHP Officer Robert Rickman. "It was a head-on collision where the drunken driver's car went over the other car and peeled the top of it off. All occupants, except one, died. The drunken driver also died at the scene. Alcohol was the primary factor in that collision."
In 2005, I was asked to be the master of ceremonies at the annual candlelight vigil, held in Stockton, for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I read off the names of those that had lost their lives to a drunk driver. Family members wept as the names of their loved ones were read. One of the women among the group of mourners was a friend of mine and her daughter, Kristine Ormonde, was also killed by a drunken driver.
I couldn't escape the wave of emotion from these grieving families and tears welled up in my eyes as I read out loud the long list of names before me. The fact is that drunk drivers kill and leave families to mourn and ask the question why? Please don't drink and drive.
Today's column is dedicated to all those who have lost a loved one to a drunken driver.
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