Tonight, many will celebrate the accomplishments of 2018 while waiting in anticipation for the countdown to a new year. Alcohol will be at the center of many New Year’s Eve celebrations tonight. The problem with the drinking many are likely to do is their decision to drive home that follows, and the life-changing moment of impact that can follow one bad decision.
(Lori Webb, the way her mom remembers her)
Let’s go back to 1971. The Webbs were on their way home from Roy’s work where they had gone to pick up some peaches. Roy’s wife, Millie, who was seven months pregnant, was craving them. In a moment, their lives were changed when an impaired driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 slammed into them from behind on Murfreesboro Road near I-65. Millie’s neck was broken and she suffered burns over 75% of her body. Roy was severely burned. Their 4-year-old daughter, Lori, and 19-month old nephew, Mitch, were both killed. Little Mitch died six hours after the crash. Lori endured two weeks of treatment for excruciating burns that covered 75% of her body before dying in the hospital. That baby – very awake, and very aware, never got to experience her mother’s touch again before dying a broken little girl. In fact, Lori was buried before Millie was even strong enough to be told that she had died. Millie’s unborn baby, Kara, was born premature and legally blind. Now in her forties, and a mom herself, Kara’s never clearly seen a sunset, a rainbow, or the faces of her own children light up when they score a point at a game.
Millie Webb is not just a former Mothers Against Drunk Driving National President. She’s not just a woman who was instrumental in lowering the legal limit from .10 to .08. She is a friend to the Franklin community, and the matriarch of a ravaged family who helped to start Tennessee’s first Mothers Against Drunk Driving Chapter in 1981. Millie Webb is the mother of a victim. She is the aunt of a victim and wife of a victim. She herself is an unfortunate, life-long victim of the reality of impaired driving.
Fines, bond, attorney fees, and increased insurance premiums are a few of the expenses you can look forward to footing the bill for, if you drink and drive. MSN Money reports that the typical DUI arrest ends up costing about $10k. Today, the average no-frills funeral cost about $8,000. If you get behind the wheel of a car after you’ve been drinking tonight, you may end up with a ride in a police car, or a hearse. Either will cost you, and others – dearly. Don’t believe it could happen to you? Let us introduce you to the Webbs.
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