Event raises awareness about drunk driving dangers
Candice Lightner started the non-profit Mothers Against Drunk Driving after her 13-year-old daughter was killed by a man named Clarence William Busch in a drunk driving accident on May 3, 1980. Busch left the young girl’s body at the scene. The accident marked his fifth arrest for drunk driving.
Almost 35 years later, MADD’s primary mission is to educate people on the dangers of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. It also helps those affected by the crime.
Now, representatives from MADD are bringing their mission to Gallup by hosting a fundraising event on Sept. 14. “Walk Like MADD” gives people the chance to honor those lost by drunk driving crashes and bring awareness to the issue. The event will include a two-mile walk, and 5K and 10K races.
At press time, the event had raised over $11,500 of the non-profit’s $15,000 goal.
BRINGING
IT LOCAL
In an interview with the Sun, Jennifer Bates explained why she wanted to bring a “Walk Like MAAD” event to the Gallup community.
“We just want to fight for what we believe in; we want to fight to keep our streets and our roadways safe for families,” Bates said. “It’s just so frustrating reading in the paper about repeat offenders who are up to nine or 10 DWIs and they’re not in jail.”
Bates is a Court Monitoring Project Specialist who works in the Gallup, Farmington, and Aztec court systems.
As a court monitor, Bates sits in on DWI court hearings and tries to track down patterns. She follows cases from when a person is arraigned to when a case is adjudicated. It’s all about learning what’s truly going on in courtrooms during DWI hearings.
Bates said part of the reason her job is so important is because oftentimes online court documents are vague.
“Anybody can go down and get the data from the court, but a lot of the time it just says [a case is] ‘dismissed’ and you’re not sure why,” Bates explained.
She looks for certain trends in court, such as why cases are being dismissed and which judges and attorneys have the most dismissed cases.
Bates said many cases in Gallup and McKinley County are dismissed because of a lack of prosecutors in the District Attorney’s Office.
“The district attorney’s office has currently been having a horrible time keeping attorneys in their office,” Bates said. “There’s a crazy turnover [rate] in that office. Sometimes we’ll have attorneys come in and they’ll work a week and then leave.”
Without representation on the prosecution side, a defendant’s case is often dismissed, and they end up walking free of any charges.
Another less common reason a case gets dismissed is because a law enforcement officer doesn’t appear in court. Law enforcement officers must attend every court appearance for a case they’re involved in. Bates said most of the time, a Gallup Police officer or a McKinley County Sheriff’s deputy never misses a court date.
A STAFFING
PROBLEM
Bates is the only official MADD employee in Gallup. She said the money raised during the Sept. 14 event could help hire more employees. Ideally, MADD would have at least three employees in the area: Bates, a victim’s advocate, and a prevention specialist.
“It’s kind of hard for a family in Gallup to get help from a victim’s advocate in Albuquerque,” Bates said.
Funds from Walk Like MADD events from around the country have helped local communities in a multitude of ways:
• Provide emotional support and assistance for victims with the medical and legal struggles that follow a drunk driving crash
• Support law enforcement to keep roads safe
• Work with state and local legislators to adopt tougher laws, including requiring ignition interlocks for all DUI offenders, and closing the loopholes in many existing laws
• Support the development of technology to determine automatically whether or not the driver is above the legal limit of .08
DETAILS OF THE EVENT
Gallup’s “Walk Like MADD” will begin at 7:45 am at Red Rock Park with the singing of the national anthem.
Multiple speakers will present during the event before the walk and races begin.
Darlene and Dave Peshlakai will be two of those presenters. The Peshlakais’ daughters, Deshauna and Del Lynn, were killed in a drunk-driving accident in March 2010 as they were returning home from a basketball game in Santa Fe.
Now, almost 15 years later, the Peshlakais raise awareness about the dangers of driving drunk with the help of MAAD.
“We want people to know how hurtful this has been to our family,” Darlene said. “You don’t get over things like that. We don’t want people to experience the same situation that we were in. I want to leave an impact on people about my story and drinking and driving. It’s everywhere and we’re trying to lessen what’s out there.”
During her presentation at the event Darlene plans to discuss the safer choices people can make if they choose to drink during a night out.
She suggested getting a cab, or calling a friend for a ride if you realize you drank more than you planned to.
“Everything is a choice,” Darlene said. “Make the right choice. It’s not an accident when you hit somebody because you’ve been drinking, because you chose to drink.”
For more information about Gallup’s “Walk Like MADD” event, such as registration fees and information for what to expect on the day of the event, visit https://www.walklikemadd.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1589
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
