Family of late Boy Scout Andrew McMorris partners with Suffolk County Sheriff to crack down on DWI
MANORVILLE, N.Y. -- Drunk and drugged driving is 100% preventable, say the parents of Boy Scout Andrew McMorris.
Their son was killed by a driver who refused a sober ride home.
Now, the family is partnering with a Long Island holiday summer drunk driving campaign that will begin with increased DWI patrols and checkpoints next Wednesday, July 4.
"You can change someone's life, like ours, in a flash," John McMorris said.
Nearly five years ago, Andrew McMorris and his Boy Scout troop were hiking on Long Island when he was hit by a 61-year-old drunk driver. The 12-year-old succumbed to his injuries.
"When Andrew passed away, I made a promise to him at his deathbed, as I kissed him, I said, 'Baby, I'm going to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else,'" mother Alisa McMorris said.
The heartbreaking pain endured by the McMorris family has propelled them into the battle against drunk driving.
Of the nearly 500 Americans killed on the road on July 4, 2022, excessive alcohol was the cause 41% of the time -- the highest among all the major holidays.
"During the summer months, traffic fatalities due to drunk, drugged and impaired driving, in fact, doubled on our roadways," compared to all other months combined, said Paige Carbone, regional executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
MADD and the McMorris Foundation are teaming with the Suffolk County Sheriff's summer campaign to increase patrols and checkpoints. A DWI processing bus, which is self contained and mobile, will be rotated among checkpoints.
"We can arrest them, process them, move them along, and then look for the next ones who may be driving impaired or drunk," said Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon Jr., adding when asked if he's seeing increasing numbers, "Tragically, we are."
READ MORE: Mother of Boy Scout Killed by alleged drunk driver: "Part of me died that day"
The McMorrises say "How am I getting home?" is the question that needs to be asked.
"It was all due to the fact that someone made the decision not to get a sober ride home," John McMorris said of the circumstances leading up to his son's death.
The family is taking their message to students, especially following the recent deaths of two young teen tennis prodigies, who were allegedly killed by a 34-year-old drunk driver.
"I go to college and I watch my friends go out, and everybody's making right decisions. They're calling an Uber. They have a sober friend," sister Arianna McMorris said.
"They can be the generation to end drunk and drugged driving. They have the power," Alissa McMorris said. "Andrew should be here. We build our world around him, around that pain, so that we can change this for someone else."
The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office has had a record high number of impaired driving arrests so far this year -- up 40% over 2022.