Seeking justice for their friends
Group demands tougher penalties for drunk drivers
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/12/2010 (5715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
They wore T-shirts bearing the images of their two dead friends and carried signs that spoke about their fear that an alleged drunk driver may not receive a just punishment.
About 50 friends and family of Amutha Subramaniam, 17, and Senhit Mehari, 19, held a rally at the legislature Tuesday calling for harsher penalties for drunk drivers and year-round crackdowns by police.
Subramaniam and Mehari, two Dakota Collegiate grads, were killed in a collision at Bishop Grandin Boulevard and St. Mary’s Road on Oct. 31. Three others in their car were taken to hospital, one with life-threatening injuries. The 17-year-old girl driving the second vehicle faces several charges including impaired driving causing death.
On Tuesday, speakers at the rally expressed concern and disbelief that in the weeks following the teens’ high-profile deaths, drunk driving and its tragic consequences persisted, seemingly, unabated.
“Right after a major crash like this where so many people were affected, especially such young lives, there’s still people willing to go out drinking and driving,” said Melanie Benedict, 18, a friend of Subramaniam, who would have turned 18 on Dec. 21. “So it just reinforces the fact that our drinking and driving laws aren’t severe enough.”
Benedict and others attending the event didn’t articulate how harsh the punishment for drunk driving should be except that it should act as a deterrent. They suggested a $1,000 fine for a first conviction of impaired driving is inadequate.
As of the beginning of the month, there had been 58 fatal collisions claiming 65 lives in Manitoba in 2010. Police believe one-third of the fatalities could be attributed to alcohol and impaired driving.
Some who attended Tuesday’s rally carried signs saying, “Justice 4 the Victims” and “Adult Decision = Adult Consequences” — the latter suggesting concern the 17-year-old girl whose case is before the courts may get off with a slap on the wrist because she is a minor. Rally organizers said the teen would appear in court today,but that wasn’t verified.
The charge of impaired driving causing death carries a maximum adult sentence of life in prison. According to the Youth Criminal Justice Act, that translates into a three-year maximum sentence.
Aaron Mehzenta, a friend of Mehari’s parents, said the tragedy weighs heavily on family and friends, especially during the holiday season. “No kind of punishment will bring these young girls back… but if people who commit crimes are let go for free, then who prevents them from doing it again?”
larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca