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a nonprofit organization for children's rights
From the Boca Raton News
Too Many Parents Drinking and Driving
March 25, 2004
by Kelli Kennedy
Parents are quick to point blame and
demand action when children are killed
by drunk drivers, but according to
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) a
surprising number of intoxicated parents
are also getting behind the wheel- with
their children in the car.
More than 2,000 children died in car
crashes involving drinking drivers
between 1997 and 2002; of those children
killed, 68 percent were riding in the
car with a drinking driver, according to
the study conducted by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
“It happens more than you can imagine,”
said Deborah Beck, President of MADD’s
Palm Beach County Chapter. “These kids
aren’t being killed because they were
hit by a drunk driver in another car.
They’re being killed because they’re in
the car with mom or dad whose drunk.”
MADD is calling for tougher child
endangerment laws, suggesting
legislature that would lower the drunk
driving arrest threshold to .05% blood
alcohol concentration (BAC) for drivers
with a previous DUI conviction when
driving with children in the car.
The organization’s new report, “Child
Endangerment Report: Every Child
Deserves a Designated Driver,” outlines
weaknesses in state laws against child
endangerment and calls for increased
penalties and more training and
awareness about the problem. The report,
which was prepared by a panel of
national experts, found that drivers who
are caught drinking and driving with a
child in the car are often not charged
with child endangerment and that when
such charges are brought, they are often
reduced through plea-bargaining or
dismissed.
MADD National President Wendy J.
Hamilton said the report highlights the
dangers faced by large numbers of
children.
“No child should be put at risk by
having to ride in the car with a
drinking driver,” Hamilton said. “We
call on lawmakers and public safety
officials to do more to stop drivers
from taking deadly chances with the
lives of kids.”
“Driving intoxicated with kids in the
car is a form of child abuse pure and
simple,” said Hamilton. “It must not be
tolerated by lawmakers, communities, or
family members.” The MADD report makes
several recommendations, including calls
to.
It’s a scenario that’s all too
familiar for Boca Raton resident Jacques
Bobrowsky. His ex-wife, Stacie Persin,
44, was on probation after being
convicted of manslaughter and vehicular
homicide in 2000 for her role in a Boca
Raton car accident that killed her
9-year-old daughter, Haley.
Investigators said Persin was high on
cocaine when she drove her daughter to
Del Prado Elementary on Feb. 22, 2000,
the date of the accident.
Persin, who divorced Bobrowsky in
December 1992, was driving in excess of
49 mph around a curve in a 30-mph speed
zone, lost control of her Lexus sport
utility vehicle on Palmetto Circle North
and crashed, according to court records.
Haley, who was not wearing a seatbelt,
was ejected through the front
windshield. She was taken to Delray
Medical Center and hooked up to numerous
tubes and a brain monitor. She died two
weeks later.
Bobrowsky channeled his grief into
“Haley’s Rights,” an organization that
advocates the rights of children in the
courtroom because “children don’t have a
voice. We often speak before the judge
on behalf of the children to ensure that
those convicted of crimes against them
do not received reduced sentences, he
said.
He says he’s all in favor of MADD’s
agenda to crack down on parents who
drive while high or intoxicated, but
fears the law may not be enforced.
“I feel any laws passed to protect
children is a great accomplishment,” he
said. “More often than not, the laws in
place right now are rarely enforced. In
Palm Beach County it appears to me the
State Attorney’s Office is first to
prosecute a child for a crime against an
adult and last to prosecute an adult for
a crime against a child”.
Florida state representative, Irv
Slosberg, (D-Boca Raton) says adults
caught drinking and driving with
children in the car should be charged
with child abuse and have their children
taken away.
“If they’re driving drunk with kids in
the car, then they’re not responsible
enough to have kids,” said Slosberg, who
has been an advocate of seatbelt safety
since in 1996 when his 14-year-old
daughter Dori was killed after she was
thrown from a Honda Civic
MADD’S proposal also calls for stricter
seatbelt enforcement by police and
prosecutors.
Of the 1,451 children killed in alcohol
related crashes, only 466, or 32
percent, were properly buckled up,
according to the CDC. The study also
found that the majority of drinking
drivers in those crashes survived,
suggesting that more children may have
survived if the driver had placed them
in appropriate child safety seat
equipment.
“Interventions such as sobriety
checkpoints and vigorous enforcement of
child safety seat and seat belt laws
save lives. We also know that primary
seat belt laws, which allow police to
stop and ticket a motorist solely for
being unbelted, work to reduce crash
deaths,” said Sue Binder, MD, CDC Injury
Center director. “Broader use
community-based interventions such as
these will help protect our nation’s
children from the dangers of
alcohol-impaired driving.”
The MADD report highlights the January
1, 1998, death of Carlie McDonald, a
5-year-old Wyoming girl killed by her
intoxicated mother who was driving with
a blood-alcohol content level of 0.22,
more than twice the illegal limit. At
the time of the crash, Carlie was placed
in a front seat; a safety booster seat
was unused in the back seat.
“Nobody should have to go through what I
have after I lost Carlie,” Carlie’s
father, Lieutenant Carl McDonald of the
Wyoming Highway Patrol, said. “Adults
who drink have no business driving in
any circumstances. But getting behind
the wheel drunk with a child in the car
is a crime that needs to be enforced and
punished severely.”
Critics argue that MADD’s suggestion
does nothing to solve drunk driving.
“MADD’s campaign is not about stopping
drunk driving or improving highway
safety. It’s just the latest step in
their march toward Prohibition,” said
Richard Berman, Washington Counsel for
the American Beverage Licensees.
Even more ridiculous is MADD’s
recommendation of special “zero
tolerance” laws for all divorced
parents, requiring a mandatory provision
in every separation agreement that
parents cannot drink and drive with
their children in the car, said Berman.
“This proposal would make it illegal for
a father to take his kids to a ball game
or a restaurant and enjoy a beer before
driving home. MADD’s proposal seeks to
deny that responsible parenting can and
does include responsible consumption of
adult beverages,” Berman said. “MADD
needs to get back to their mission of
helping us target and arrest truly drunk
drivers, and not seek ways to redefine
the problem.”
But MADD advocates claim the proposed
legislation has nothing to do with
prohibition and everything to do with
the safety of children.
“Driving intoxicated with kids in the
car is a form of child abuse pure and
simple,” said Hamilton. “It must not be
tolerated by lawmakers, communities, or
family members.”
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