Victims of impaired driving honored at Maryland Remembers ceremony
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Maryland Remembers ceremony has been held over the past 19 years in honor of the people who lost their lives to impaired drivers.
"Let us take this day and remember our loved ones who were so senselessly taken from our lives," Deb Hardy said. "My daughter did not have to die. None of our loved ones had to die because we all know that drunk driving is 100 percent preventable."
Hardy explained that her 13-year-old daughter was killed by a drunk driver the same year Maryland Remembers started.
On Monday evening at a hotel in Annapolis, Governor Larry Hogan, representatives from the Maryland Department of Transportation, and Maryland State Police gathered with the family of victims for a service.
There was a table filled with pictures of victims from the last 19 years in between the stage for speakers and the sitting audience.
"The fight continues because even one death is one too many, which is why we must continue working together," Hogan said. "We must continue to tell the stories of those we have lost, and we must continue doing everything in our power to save lives and to prevent future tragedies."
Maryland Remembers is an annual event at the start of the holiday season, which is when experts say impaired driving crashes tend to tick up.
Data from the state shows that in 2021 more than 15,430 people were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Data shows that 1,616 of those arrests happened between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.
Over the years, Hogan has said the state has focused on ways to strengthen laws to hold people who drive impaired accountable for their actions.
This includes Noah's Law, which is also known as the Drunk Driving Reduction Act. The law is named after Montgomery County Police Officer Noah Leotta who was struck and killed by a drunk driver.
The law went into effect in October 2016. It requires people who have been convicted of driving under the influence to use an ignition interlock device. The driver must use a breathalyzer before starting their car.
Additionally, Hogan said the state created harsher punishments for repeat offenders.
"We successfully enacted a repeat drunk driving offenders act to impose stronger penalties on drunk and drug driving offenders to increase jail time for those convicted of vehicular homicide while under the influence from 3 years to 5 years," Hogan said.
While MDOT and law enforcement work to educate the community on the consequences of getting behind the wheel impaired and prevent crashes, those with injuries and deaths continue to be investigated all over the state.
Days before Thanksgiving early Saturday morning, a 30-year-old woman is accused of driving under the influence and the wrong way on I-97 near Route 32 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland State Police. It took the life of a 68-year-old Annapolis man in a five-car crash.
Asia Lashae Bryant-Pelloni was arrested and faces several charges including vehicular homicide and manslaughter.
The state said drivers should expect to see additional patrols on Maryland roadways throughout the holiday season.
Some units will be designated to specifically pull over people who are suspected of driving under the influence.