Prevent Drunken Driving

By Diane Farr

Fourth of July is so fragrant. Sunblock and gas grills and white wine perfume America as we celebrate our freedom. It is also the time of year that I say prayers before bed, as it is the anniversary of Kate Flynn's passing.

That is, her taking.

On July 3, 2005, Martin Heidgen was angry with a friend and decided to drive his car after drinking at a barbecue. He was so angry, and so entitled in his drunken stupor, that he decided to drive down an off-ramp onto a New York parkway in the wrong direction in a 70-mph show of force.

Katie was in a limousine on this parkway. Her aunt had just been married and Katie served as flower girl. Katie was buckled in. Her family surrounded her and the hired driver, Stanley Rabinowitz, was at the helm.

Rabinowitz was killed instantly when Heidgen turned his car directly into Katie's limousine. After the Jaws of Life pried Katie's grandma, grandpa, father and sister from the wreckage, they were taken to separate hospitals.

Katie's mom somehow only broke part of her foot. I imagine that she was spared physical pain because she was tasked to pick up her beautiful, firstborn daughter and carry her out of the limousine. But only part of her - because Heidgen's car decapitated the 7-year-old.

Her mother, Jenna, is my oldest friend. We spent our childhoods together in ugly school uniforms, hearing about the goodness of God. I abandoned this God a long time ago, as the fear that came with his good word outweighed the good for me. My friend Jenna still reveres Him, though, and survives, almost entirely, on her faith that He is taking good care of Katie. For this reason, I often catch myself praying to Jenna's God as June comes to a close each year.

I watched Oprah when she introduced my friend Jenna on her show a few years after the crash by asking how many people in the audience ever had driven drunk. Everyone sheepishly raising their hands seemed like an act of contrition until I heard Jenna say, “If you now ask how many people pick their nose, everyone will find it much more uncomfortable to raise their hands.”

Elected officials can change law, but we all need to begin to turn the tide on driving drunk - in one backyard at a time. We must prevent, even shame, any friend or acquaintance this Fourth of July who attempts to operate a 3,000-pound piece of machinery after partying.

Perhaps no other flower girls will be murdered if a drunk is not allowed, by a backyard full of witnesses, to use a car like a weapon against families on a wedding day.

Diane Farr writes for Tribune Media Services. Comments: facebook.com/getdianefarr