We were able to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for HB2216 a bill to triple Sentencing for Vehicular Homicide. The hearing can be see on TVW here. The testimony for this bill starts at 1:22. There were three other families that DID testify during the last fifteen minutes of this hearing. Their testimony is compelling. Sad. Hope this bill passes. It seems to have broad, bi-partisan support.

Carol and I are going to Olympia to testify (HOPEFULLY)  before the Senate Judiciary Committee in favor of SSHB 2216 which will triple the sentencing guidelines for vehicular homicide. We wanted to testify before the House Judiciary, but there was a foot of snow on the ground that morning. We hope the Senate chair will allow us to testify THIS session as he was reluctant to let us LAST session. Wish us luck.

We can’t be in Olympia tomorrow morning for the 9:00 AM hearing on DUI bills. We wrote this statement FOR HB 2216 which would increase sentencing guidelines for vehicular homicide. This is what we sent.

To the House Judiciary Committee January 18^th, 2012 RE: HB 2216

I would like to thank the Chair and Committee members for reading my comments regarding HB 2216.

On February 26^th, 2010, my daughter Sheena was killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision in Everett Wash. Another young man was killed and two other young men were left permanently disabled in that collision. When you have a loved one killed in this manner, you get TWO shocks. First, when law enforcement knocks on your door and tells you that your loved one has been killed. The second occurs when, a few weeks later, the families meet with a prosecutor and are told what the sentencing guidelines are for vehicular homicide.

Vehicular homicide is a violent crime perpetrated by people who make a decision to drive when they know they are impaired. They act in an extremely negligent and careless manner, causing death and injury because of that decision. They crush our families and destroy our lives the same as any other murder. Whether the perpetrator uses a gun or a car, the result is the same for us. The penalty should be the same for homicide with a car as with a gun or a stick. The victim is just as dead, the families are just as destroyed.

There have been a lot of discussions about budget concerns, fiscal notes and such. There must also be discussions about justice. We are not just grieving parents seeking vengeance and retribution. It is not vengeance we seek, but we DO seek justice.

There has also been a lot of talk about “changing the culture” as it relates to drunk driving in this state. You can NOT change this culture without seeking, no, demanding accountability from those who kill our children, mothers, fathers or spouses with their cars when they are driving drunk. Only by increasing these penalties will the legislature send a message that Washington State takes this issue seriously.

Law enforcement does all it can with the resources it has to end this scourge. The judicial system prosecutes these violent crimes to the fullest extent of the law. We, as family members, do everything we can to educate the public about what this is really like, and the risks people take when they drive drunk. We respectfully request that you, as Legislators stand with US and punish this violent felony as the serious crime that it is.

Thank you for your consideration,

Frank and Carol Blair

8002 12^th Ave E.

Tacoma Washington, 98404

We support this bill. It would triple the sentencing guideline for vehicular. PLEASE call your representative and ask them to support this bill as well.

This is the 23 minute interview Carol and I did on December 7th on Port Townsend TV. It hits pretty hard, but to issue of DUI is deadly.

Port Townsend is my favorite town in the state.We thank Jim and Steve for their hospitality and for making a difficult interview as easy as possible.

Carol and I spent the day at Joint Base Lewis McCord as part of a comprehensive event for a brigade of Fort Lewis soldiers. There were speakers addressing suicide, drug abuse, domestic violence and a Pierce County Sheriff Deputy and a assistant prosecutor from Lakewood/University Place. We spoke as Sheena’s parents of course and we said things that we have never said in public before. It was VERY intense. I’ll just say that it was VERY quiet as we poured our guts out to them. Each time after we spoke (We did it twice) ten or fifteen of these troops shook our hands and expressed their condolences. We talked with PFCs to Colonels. The most touching moments were when a few of the lower ranking young men and women shook our hands with tears in their eyes and remarked about how brave WE were to talk about our journey the way we did. One young man told us that Sheena was the kind of person he would have liked to have known. Another young man told us that he had never heard this issue discussed like this before and that he had a bit of an epiphany. He promised he would NEVER drive even buzzed again. The doctor of the unit thanked us for being so..frank, they needed to hear what the actual consequences of driving drunk are.

After each session the Command Sargent Major (Who actually is more important than the commander) addressed these folks and basically told them that DUI OR drug use would end their careers. ICE cold fact. He scared the CRAP out of them.

The bravest person in that theater without a doubt was Carol. She stood in front of six hundred people TWICE with just a microphone telling them about “that night”, how it changed her forever and how it broke her heart. It’s the bravest thing I have seen in a LONG time. I closed each session by telling them that we have shared our story with them, we now consider them part of our family , we love them and we don’t want to see this happen to them.

The medallion pictured was presented to each of the speakers BY the Command Sargent Major. We were deeply touched by this honor. The wolf claw in the middle was in my shirt pocket over my heart. I was taking NO chances.

Here’s an interview with Maury Eskenazi and Stitch Mitchell I did today on KRKO 1380 in Everett. This was recorded to be played on their show on December 19th (Sheena’s birthday) I’ll post the time on the broadcast as soon as I get it. This is about twenty minutes and ,as a warning, hits pretty hard. Grab a tissue and listen as I explain that night, the justice system, our activism, who Sheena was and how her killing effected US, and Amy. Like I mentioned, it hits pretty hard. Just sayin.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Carleen Johnson, reporter for KOMO News 1000 interviewed carol and I last week. I am going to post all three pieces. They hit HARD, GOOD. People need to hear this. They aired all day today, Friday December 2nd.

DUI Patrols CJ wrap 1

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

DUI patrols CJ wrap

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Sheena Blair-LONG form-cj

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Like I mentioned, these pieces hit HARD. I hope and pray that we AND KOMO may have saved a life.

Holiday DUI police patrols successful so far
Crash victim’s family offers personal message

Posted: Monday, November 28, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 10:15 pm, Sun Nov 27, 2011.
By Kelli Hadley, Daily News staff writer

Whitman County, along with every other county in Washington, will see a law enforcement crackdown on intoxicated drivers again this holiday season.

Whitman County Sheriff’s Department, Pullman Police Department, Washington State University Police Department and the Washington State Patrol are a few of 150 police agencies across the state that will put in overtime during the holidays to mount extra holiday DUI patrols.

It’s an annual effort in many states to prevent impaired driving accidents as much as possible, said Shelly Baldwin, program manager with the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

“This is part of a federal fund that comes to our state to combat impaired driving, to change behavior, which is what we are really after,” Baldwin said. “It’s not about how many arrests we make. … We really want people to know their chances of being caught are greatly increased, and we want them to do the right thing.”

Baldwin said it seems as though the now-routine stepped-up holiday patrols are making a positive mark.

“What we want to see is a decrease in the number of people who are killed by drunk drivers,” Baldwin said. “We saw in 2010 a significant drop in drunk driving causes of death, about a 23 percent decrease. So we’re hoping that the continuation of these patrols are helping people make the right choices.”

Between 2006 and 2010, there were 1,191 people killed in the state of Washington as a result of impaired drivers.

Frank and Carol Blair, of Tacoma, experienced first-hand the most negative consequence of impaired driving. Their daughter, Sheena Blair, was killed by a drunk driver in February 2010, and now the couple is working with the WTSC and the public as much as they can to prevent further deaths because of intoxicated drivers.

“The roads over there on the eastern side of the state … a lot of them are two-lane, windy roads that are dark at night,” Frank Blair said. “That line in the middle is only six inches wide. That’s what separates us from them, as they barrel towards us when they’re intoxicated. So anything law enforcement can do to help stop that is saving lives.”

Blair said, at a minimum, a person caught driving drunk will face costs of $5,000 to $10,000. The worst case scenario, he said, is the reason he and is wife are willing to speak out as much as possible.

“The effect drunk driving has had on our family is indescribable,” he said. “The struggle to maintain just a daily existence sometimes is … insurmountable. We have assumed the responsibility because we think we have a moral responsibility to make sure people don’t get that knock on the door in the middle of the night with the worst possible news.”

Blair said he and his wife aren’t vengeful and looking to punish impaired drivers – they just want to prevent as many unnecessary deaths as possible. What many don’t think about, he said, is that it’s just as important for the public to report people they think may not be in good condition to drive.

“If you’re out and you see someone you believe is impaired because they’re swerving or driving erratically, you have to call 911. You just have to,” Blair said. “Doing so doesn’t mean you’re a rat, it means you’re an angel, and you’re probably responsible for saving someone’s life.”

Blair also asked that the public make plans to get home before going out, so they have a safe, dependable ride.

“When someone goes out, they have to plan what they’re going to wear, how much money to take, maybe they drop the kids off at Grandma’s,” Blair said. “They plan everything up until the point that they need to go home. We’re asking people to take that extra step – just like they would on New Year’s Eve, but all the time.”

The extra DUI patrols in Washington will last until Jan. 2, 2012.

“Everyone knows someone who has a DUI, but imagine if you actually killed someone,” Blair said. “Ask yourself, ‘What will I be thinking on the bus on the way to prison?’ We’re just asking you to think it all the way through.”

I was in Olympia again today to attend a stakeholder working group on the issue of DUI. There is a proposed bill that will tweek some legal issues for prosecutors and judges as well as some suggestions by the State Patrol.

The most interesting concept (at least to us) was a bill written by (I think) and supported by Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. This proposed bill would increase penalties for Vehicular Homicide sentencing guidelines UP two categories. As it is NOW a single VH with DUI prong gets you 31 to 41 months. IF this passes it would increase the sentencing to 78 to 102 months. Vehicular Assault sentence is 3 to 9 months. Again, if passed the new guideline would be 6to 12 months. I support this proposal. In the hearings we have attended EVERYTHING is considered……except justice.

KCPQ 13 was there filming the meeting, HERE IS THEIR REPORT. (I couldn’t get the video to work, I’ll update the link when it does.)