The promising life of a woman from Texas changed forever when she was involved in a drunk driving accident. The accident happened 14 years ago when she was a high school senior. Today she is still going through therapy and recovering from her injuries. Recently, she and the members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) participated in a march silently around the Capitol to honor the victims of drunk driving.
Last year the event was called “DWI March of Sorrow.” This year, they called the event “DWI March for Change” in hopes of changing people’s behavior, habits and thoughts when it comes to driving while intoxicated. In 2013, Texas had more than 25,000 drunk driving accidents in which over 8,000 people were seriously injured and more than 1,000 people died.
The driver who crashed into the woman’s car had five DWI incidents prior to the accident and this one was his sixth DWI. The accident occurred when the driver hit the woman’s car almost head on. She was driving and she was with three of her friends. Out of everyone, she was the one who suffered most from the crash. To this day, she is still going through cognitive and speech therapy sessions.
Another mother who participated in the March lost her son when a friend of his, while driving drunk, crashed his truck and abandoned her son in the woods to die. In recent years, drunk driving accidents in Texas have increased. Texas courts can help victims receive financial compensation for damages and medical expenses. Even though the scars from drunk driving accidents can never be erased, there is help out there with the healing process.
Source: myfoxaustin.com, “Drunk driving victims remembered in silent march around Capitol”, , April 25, 2014