HOUSTON—As deputies, firefighters, and emergency services personnel gathered Sunday at the Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department to continue their battle against drunk driving, Sunday morning claimed another drunk driving victim in Houston, according to police.
Teri Dollar, a deputy with Harris County Constable Precinct 5, formed the group Badges and Bandages with her twin sister after surviving a drunk driving crash. I
n 2006 she was working at a traffic stop when a drunk driver plowed into her patrol car and pinned her beneath the wreckage. Critically injured she has suffered through six surgeries so far. The man who hit her was sentenced to 10 years in prison. It was his third arrest for DWI.
“For all of the heroes that worked so hard to keep me alive, that’s why I’m here,” said Dollar.
Dollar and her sister, Tami Simmonds, established Badges and Bandages as an education campaign.
Using goggles that simulate the disorientation of being drunk, drivers are given the chance to see how a DWI arrest, booking and appearance before a judge would feel.
Also on Sunday outside Cy- Fair Station 6, the Cypress Creek Volunteer Fire Department brought one of its most powerful teaching tools.
A small car from a 2002 fatal drunk driving crash rests on its side on a flatbed trailer. The car is still wrapped around a tree; the same way firefighters found it the night of that crash that killed two teenage boys.
“We need to make an impact,” said Dollar. “We need to stop having the news stories about people losing family members suddenly without warning for no good reason at all.”
Because early Sunday morning it happened again. At the intersection of Aldine Mail Route and Sweeney, a suspected drunk driver swerved into oncoming traffic on a two lane road and slammed into the passenger side of a car carrying a mom and four children. A 9-year-old girl in the backseat was killed.
“This unfortunate 9-year-old last night,” said Dollar. “It’s a mental trip that you get sent on that you didn’t buy the ticket for. So it impacts me every time.”
“You take away your life and theirs,” Tami Simmonds said appealing to potential drunk drivers. “Because you will go to jail or you will be punished and it will follow you for the rest of your life.”
“If one person listens we might save a life,” said Dollar.
More information on the program at www.badgesandbandages.com
