Georgia Recognizes Roadside Drunk Driving Victim Memorials
Newsday reported on Sunday that a young victim killed in a drunk driving accident, seventeen year-old Donny Ray Harris Jr., will be the first drunken driving victim in the state of Georgia to be remembered with an official highway marker, erected under a state law the governor Sonny Purdue signed just 13 days before the fatal car crash. Georgia is among a growing number of states that give official status to landmarks of fatal drunk driving accidents. The markers will be put up for five years and will read "In Memory Of," followed by the accident victim's name and "DUI Victim."
This is something I wish Maryland would adopt. Every single one of the thousands of injuries and deaths caused by drunk driving is preventable. Sure, as long as there are alcohol and cars, trucks, and motorcycles, there will be drunk driving deaths. Some people could watch videos all day long of the horrors of drunk driving accidents and still drink a six pack and blithely jump behind the wheel. But there are a great many drunk driving fatalities caused by otherwise decent people doing an awful thing. These are the people that education - reminders of the tragedy a single drunk driving mistake can mean to them, their families, and their innocent victims - can change behaviors and save lives and human suffering.
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