Families Of Drunk Driving Victims Warn Of DUI Dangers
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Nearly everyday Jihan Haidar says she still dreams about what could have been.
"By now we would be having our first baby together, we would be having our Christmas tree in our small apartment," said Haidar.
Haider said she and the man who called her soulmate, Naji El Kadi, were preparing for one of the biggest days of their lives. Their wedding was just two days away.
"We practiced the first dance on the street outside the house and he left," she recalled.
Now Haidar grips the picture of the man she loved and lost. El Kadi was struck and killed that night by a drunk and high driver last April. His wedding suit became his burial suit.
"Why still do people do it? Why do people drive after they've been drinking," she said.
Haidar is now part of a tragic community.
"You know holidays are still tough, it's amazing to me how tough they are," said Helen Witty.
Witty's 16-year-old daughter Helen Marie was killed in 2000 by a 17-year-old driver who was also drunk and high.
On Tuesday, the women joined the Florida Highway Patrol at Jackson Memorial Hospital Alamo Park to speak about the dangers of DUI. FHP troopers also used dummies in a rollover simulator to drive home what they say is a reality on the roads, especially this time of year.
"Head trauma, spinal injuries and even death," said Joe Sanchez with FHP.
"You shouldn't go through the kind of pain that I went through to learn that drunk driving is dangerous," said Haidar.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, between Thanksgiving Day through New Year's Eve in 2016, 891 people were killed in drunk driving crashes.