Consequences of impaired driving

Why is the number of incidents so high in our otherwise low-crime, beautiful province?

One year ago today, our beloved 27-year-old son Jacob was killed by a drunk driver while cycling on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

The 43-year-old woman who hit him from behind and “deposited” his 6’7”, 200pound body on the pavement 200 feet from the point of collision drove off without stopping to try to help or call 911. The RCMP found her in a driveway on a side road several kilometres away. She had blood-alcohol levels more than twice the legal limit. She confessed to having downed 13 drinks that day, and was on the way to her boyfriend’s for supper. He had told her that he would pay for a cab since she had been drinking. The next time he heard from her, she said she had hit a bike. She later told the police she didn’t know what she had hit. I don’t think there were brake marks. I understand that she was a professional bartender.

She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a total of five years in prison. A person is eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence, so even if you kill someone, you likely will be released in 1.5 years or less. The sentence for our family is life.

“Impaired driving causing death” sounds so sterile. If someone were drunk and took a baseball bat to beat a complete stranger to death, we all would be horrified. However, drink and choose a 4,000-pound weapon (a car) instead of a bat; hit someone from behind so hard that he suffers fatal blunt-force injuries to four different parts of his body (his head, neck, chest and abdomen — picture using the bat instead of the car to do that to a person); plead guilty; and you’ll be out in no time. People may even sympathize because it was just a coincidence or bad luck that you killed a complete stranger before getting to your destination that day. After all, you weren’t going far...

What’s wrong with this picture? Why is the incidence of impaired driving so high in our otherwise low-crime, beautiful province? Why was our son’s death worth so little in the Canadian judicial system? (I am not upset with the judge who dealt with our case – this five-year sentence is long compared to what happens in other provinces.)

My husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic pancreatic cancer in mid-April 2020 and was fighting it with an aggressive chemotherapy regime, but then Jacob was killed.

My husband should have lived longer with the help of those treatments, but he died six weeks after Jacob – the final weeks of his life (his last

Father’s Day, his last birthday and so on) filled with incredible emotional pain and loss on top of the cancer. The quality of his remaining life was destroyed by the impaired driver, but that doesn’t count.

I had to identify Jacob at the morgue late on the night he died, and still see the damage done to him and his wide-open eyes when I try to sleep. He was still wearing his new helmet. Jacob had opted to be an organ donor a few years ago, but we could not donate his organs because he had to be sent to Nova Scotia for an autopsy to support the charges. All his training and fitness, and very healthy organs, as per the autopsy report, were wasted. Drivers in the area, first responders, police and paramedics had to see the aftermath, but the driver didn’t because she left the scene.

So much damage to so many people, but sentences do not reflect those costs.

My husband wanted to create a scholarship fund in Jacob’s name so that he would not be forgotten, and something good would come from such a senseless loss. We have received great support for the fund to date and the first $2,500 scholarship is being awarded to a graduating P.E.I. high school student who shared some of Jacob’s passions and interests. Seventy-one of the brightest graduating students from across the Island applied, and as requested, each applicant provided two suggestions to help reduce or eliminate impaired driving in our province. The applications were inspiring to read, and my daughter and I will be compiling the suggestions and sharing them with those who can help make changes, such as MADD, elected officials, the police and others.

Please do not drive impaired. Call 911 if you see a suspected impaired driver. Help take the “baseball bat” out of his or her hands and maybe you will save the lives of children waiting for a bus, or a mom walking with her kids to the beach, or a healthy, strong young person with so much more life to live and to give, like our son Jacob. It’s a crime that is killing people, and politicians have the power to strengthen the laws to better reflect that. Let them know you care.