Sara Neusteter has had 15 surgeries and countless hours of therapy after an impaired driver collided head-on with her vehicle almost eight years ago, killing her 54-year-old mother and changing her world forever.
Sara Neusteter has had 15 surgeries and countless hours of therapy after an impaired driver collided head-on with her vehicle almost eight years ago, killing her 54-year-old mother and changing her world forever.
Neusteter suffered a traumatic brain injury, broken jaw and collarbone, lacerated liver, collapsed lung and other injuries in the June 21, 2014, crash near Tillsonburg.
“Because of the reckless actions of an impaired driver, my mom missed the opportunity to see her youngest child, myself, attend college, get married and have babies of my own,” said the mother of two.
“My mom never got the chance to hold her grandbabies. . . ,” she added. “My daughters were robbed of the opportunity to meet their grandma and be loved by her.”
The London chapter president of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers shared his tragic story at Thursday’s launch of the OPP’s Festive RIDE (reduce impaired driving everywhere) program.
The annual crackdown on drug- and alcohol-impaired driving, which runs until Jan. 2, comes amid a deadly year on London-area roads.
Impaired driving crashes have killed 27 people this year – up from 14 by this time last year – and injured 158 others on roads in the OPP’s West Region that encompasses Southwestern Ontario, according to police statistics.
“That’s 27 people who won’t be joining their friends and family for holiday parties,” acting Insp. Ross Stuart said. “They won’t be there for Christmas morning and they won’t be there to sit around the dinner table to share stories.”
OPP officers will staff sobriety checkpoints across the province 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the holiday campaign.
Police are allowed to demand a roadside breath sample without having a reasonable suspicion that a motorist is impaired, said Stuart, who warned novice drivers their vehicles will be impounded automatically if they’re found to have any alcohol in their systems.
West Region officers have laid 1,978 impaired driving charges so far this year, up from 1,869 a year ago.
“If you plan on drinking or consuming drugs, make your plan not to drive,” Stuart said. “Come up with an alternative: arrange for a designated driver, take public transit or call a taxi.”
Neusteter joined police Thursday at a RIDE checkpoint on a Highway 402 off-ramp, where she handed out red MADD ribbons to drivers.
“If you get handed one of these (ribbons), please do us a favor and tie it onto your mirror and show us your support that you will not be driving impaired,” she said. “It can mean a lot to victims.”
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