Wharfedale News
TV boost for Otley teenager's anti-drink-drive campaign
1:25pm Thursday 2nd February 2012
An Otley teenager’s campaign to toughen the drink-driving law is gaining momentum, following a national TV appearance and backing from her MP.
The family of 16-year-old Jamie Still, who died after being hit by a drink-driver on New Year’s Eve, 2010, wants any motorist who has been tested and found to be over the legal alcohol limit to immediately lose their licence.
Jamie’s 13-year-old sister, Rebecca, has started an online petition calling for the law to be changed, and her efforts received a huge boost when she was asked to speak about the campaign on ITV1’s Daybreak programme.
She told the breakfast show how much she missed her brother, who was a pupil at St Mary’s School, Menston.
“I think about him all the time and it’s weird that I’m never, ever going to see him again,” the teenager said.
“I really want this to change because no-one else should have to lose a brother.”
Her mother, Karen Strong, explained how hard it had been to learn that the Arthington man eventually convicted for Jamie’s death – Max McRae, who was sentenced to four years for causing death by careless driving while twice over the alcohol limit – had been allowed to keep driving for eight months after the accident.
She said: “We felt we needed to raise awareness that people are allowed to drive after they’ve killed someone through drink-driving.
“For months I was a recluse because I knew the the driver lived locally and at any time I could bump into him, or he could drive past me. If you witness your child die – no-one should have to go through that, so it’s so important this gets changed.
“We need people to go onto the petition site and get this voted through. With 100,000 signatures it will have to go to the Government, they’ll have to debate it.”
MP Greg Mulholland (Lib Dem, Leeds North West) is supporting the family’s campaign, and calling for driving licences to be automatically suspended as a condition of bail in all serious cases involving drink-driving.
He said: “The unnecessary and tragic death of Jamie Still was something that deeply affected the community, as well as being heartbreaking for family and friends.
“Their loss has been made even more difficult by the fact the person who killed him, who was more than twice over the drink-driving limit and driving dangerously, was allowed to continue driving for eight months afterwards. This is deeply distressing, as well as flying in the face of common sense. Someone whose dangerous driving has caused someone’s death, or those who have driven drunk with twice or more the legal limit in their bloodstream, should have their driving licences suspended as a condition of bail.
“I have already written to the Justice Minister, Crispin Blunt, raising the matter. We must look seriously at how the courts deal with dangerous and drunk driving, which tears apart too many lives.”
Rebecca’s petition can be signed at .thepetitionsite.com/1/zero---tolerance-for-drink-drivers-in-the-uk.