Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle and other community leaders expected to attend event dedicated to the life and memory of Danielle “Danie” Abrahams and her dog who were killed by a drunk driver in 2023
Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Target Zero are teaming up with city leaders and community partners — and inviting the public to join them Saturday, May 31 — for a powerful event to call attention to the tragedy of impaired driving.
The inaugural Bike/Walk Like MADD event will spotlight the life and memory of Danielle “Danie” Abrahams and her dog Radimier, who were killed in 2023 when a drunk driver crashed into their home. Danielle and her dog were sitting in her living room.
The message for Saturday’s event, to be held at Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park: Impaired Driving Ends Here.
MADD and Target Zero, along with their sponsors, are united in the mission to end impaired driving. One death is too many.
“We Bike/Walk to create a future with NO MORE VICTIMS. Together, let’s prioritize safety and make this summer a season of safe travel,” noted the press release for Saturday’s event.
Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle is scheduled to attend.
There will also be a release of butterflies at the event.
Bike/Walk like MADD starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park, 9612 NW Lower River Rd in Vancouver.
To register for the event, go to: https://www.walklikemadd.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.event&eventID=1739
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It is far past time for both of these groups to get behind an effort to really combat drunk driving. Vancouver just experienced yet another wrong-way drunk, and drinking while driving drunk, who caused another fatal head-on collision on SR-14. The drunk survived, but he wiped out an 18 year old student about to graduate from Roosevelt High in Portland, and severely injured two more.. The 23 yo drunk was chugging hard cider in his Mercedes while he drove against traffic for 14 miles. Its a wonder he made it that far.
What we really need is to severely up the penalties for DUI, and institute a mandatory, minimum 5 year sentence for driving on the wrong side of a divided highway. Make it a mandatory minimum 10 year sentence for each death that was caused.
I don’t scare easily, but the thought of some drunken fool going the wrong way on the freeway is terrifying, and we see it far too often nationwide. Repeat DUI offenders are legion, and get off far too easily the first time they get caught.
Every single driver in this country knows that it is illegal to drive intoxicated. They continue to do it because there are no real teeth in the laws they repeatedly feel free to ignore. Long past time to change that. Your first DUI should have such serious consequences that you are afraid to ever do it again. That is not the case right now.
MADD is in the best position to start pushing legislation Nationally to combat these scourges. Let’s have more direct action of that nature and less virtue signalling that accomplishes nothing.