Court Makes DWI Drivers See Aftermath Of Crashes
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBS 2) -- DWI offenders in Westchester County were ordered by the courts to listen to victims tell of their loss.
More than 300 offenders, some with their parents and probation officers, were greeted with breathalyzers at a county building in White Plains. Once inside, they viewed jarring pictures of injured or dead accident victims, and even one car crash, as it happened.
They also heard from a woman, self-identified as "Jen," who killed her best friend while driving drunk.
"I don't understand why he died, and I didn't, and this is the question that I will have to live with for the rest of my life," she said.
One offender brought his wife to the lesson to translate after he was convicted just days ago of drunk driving. "First and last, hopefully," wife Wendy Gonzales said. "After all this, he better."
In Westchester alone, 1,600 drivers were currently on probation for using alcohol or drugs behind the wheel.
Carol Sears spoke of losing her husband, Andy, to a drunk driver in Georgia. Their family was shattered, but is now on a mission.
"What we're saying is don't get behind the wheel if you've been drinking," Sears said. "My worry is that three months later, six months later, it disappears and they forget, so that's one of the things I said, is to please remember us. I always say that."
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