 |
| Photo by Marcelo Gerpe |
Vehicular Homicide Deemed Civil Negligence in Montana
By Joslyn Sindelar, 03.01.07
MONTANA - Aug. 16, 2002, is a day Pat Tucker will never forget. It was the day she lost her 11-year-old daughter Cady in a car accident. A disabled diabetic woman, who was not driving her handicap-equipped vehicle, suffered a seizure that caused the collision.
Sept. 15, 2003, is a day Julie Hull will never forget. It was the day her daughter Lindsay became permanently brain damaged and her 18-month-old granddaughter Anna was killed due to an inattentive speeding driver.
Aug. 19, 2004, is a day Don Ferrel will never forget. It was the day his wife Linda was taken by a drowsy driver on the road for two days without sleep.
Not only do these three share the loss of loved ones but they have all suffered injustice by the State of Montana as well. An antiquated Montana law states that only drunk drivers can be charged with negligent homicide. In order to spare others the losses they have suffered, Tucker, Hull and Ferrel are joining people across the nation who are taking a stand against lenient prosecutors and judges and informing an indifferent public.
Tucker recently started People Against Impaired Drivers (PAID), an educational and legislative reform organization. She also held safe road rallies in two Montana cities to rekindle public awareness of the crash and draw attention to the five-year statute of limitation for filing charges against drivers. The statute of limitation to file charges against the driver who took her daughter’s life lapses in August 2007. Tucker fears that Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg is biding his time until the statute runs out so he will not have to prosecute.
The charges against the driver in Anna Hull’s case were dropped in September 2004 by Judge Susan Watters of Billings, Mont. who called the case “undeniably tragic” but still exempt due to current laws. Yellowstone County Attorney Dennis Paxinos has stated, as has Van Valkenburg, that his hands are tied until Montana’s legislature amends laws to address nonalcoholic-related highway fatalities. Until then, such drivers are only considered civilly negligent.
Hull states this verdict provides little solace for her and her family. Lindsay, who still needs surgery to cover the crater left in her skull, is incapable of working and relies on her mother to care for her two young children born since Anna’s death. The family has yet to receive help in paying the accumulating medical bills that currently exceed $1 million.
“This has financially destroyed us,” said Hull, whose husband recently divorced her.
The driver in the Linda Ferrel case was found to be criminally guilty of homicide in May 2006 by a Yellowstone County coroner’s jury. Because of historic precedent, however, Ferrel’s husband Don fears the charges may be dropped by the county attorney.
Don, who is on a mission to educate the public, has been accused of seeking vengeance for his wife’s death. But Don states this is not about vengeance but about social responsibility and safety for all who travel this nation’s highways.
Don Ferrel, along with Hull and Tucker, have requested that the Montana State Legislature redefine the terms of negligent homicide to include drowsy and inattentive drivers. Other states have already adopted such terms. In 2003, New Jersey adopted Maggie’s Law which allows judges to impose a 10-year prison sentence and fines up to $150,000 for drivers awake for 24 hours or more prior to an accident.
Much research is also being done across the country to determine the extent of the problem and find solutions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2000-2003 data shows that 11.6 percent of all crashes involve distracted drivers and another 14 percent involve sleepy and inattentive drivers. According to the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, one out of every 84 children born today will be killed in a motor vehicle crash. In response, the program has put on its agenda 22 goals to reduce road fatalities.
The University of Minnesota’s Intelligent Traffic Systems Institute is researching technology to make vehicles safer for young drivers. Virginia Tech’s Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s research found 80 percent of all crashes involved the driver looking away from the roadway.
Former GM engineer Leonard Evans wrote a book and speaks on the failure of U.S. traffic-safety policy to protect road travelers. Rather than focus on vehicle design, as has been the case, he suggests making and enforcing tougher laws with the aid of technology.
Tucker, Hull and Ferrel believe accountability is what is most needed. They say that if citizens cannot be made to care about others then enforcement is the next best thing.
“We live in a disposable society - whether it’s people or paper plates,” Hull said.
