A Stowmarket mother who lost a son in a drink driving accident in 2009 said culprits need to meet families to “witness the devastation” drink driving can cause.
“People who drink alcohol before getting behind the wheel need to come and sit with families like ours and witness the devastation they can cause before they will wake up to the dangers of drink driving.”
That was the stark message being sent by Stowmarket mother Jayne Jones this week as, seven years after her son Aiden was killed by a drink driver, a private members bill is being considered to see the drink drive limit in England and Wales reduced.
Aiden Jones, 20, was killed and five people were injured in a head-on crash at Badley Hill on the B1113 in 2009, just three weeks before his 21st birthday. Nicholas Kemp, then 36 of Eastward Place, Stowmarket, was jailed for five-and-a-half-years. He pleaded guilty to death by careless driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs
A private members bill, put forward by Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe, went before the House of Lords last week and could see the Road Traffic Act 1988 amended to show a decrease from 35 to 22 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 80 to 50 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood and 107 to 67 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.
Campaigners are also calling for a trial of a breathalyser law. In France, it is a legal requirement for all motorists to keep a breathalyser in their vehicle, and following its implementation in 2012 has been attributed to making a significant contribution to road safety in the country.
However, Mrs Jones wants to see a zero tolerance approach adopted to drink driving.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but I think if they are going to do it they are going to do it,” she said. “I don’t think the laws are strong enough.
“Our son was killed, he didn’t stand a chance. It left our family heartbroken. We were totally and utterly devastated. It’s something we will never, ever come to terms with.
“I think a lot of drink drivers think ‘I will be all right, I have only had a couple’, but there are people who know they are going to do it, they know they are going to drink like the man that killed our son. He hadn’t just had a drink, he had been drinking all day. They don’t know what devastation they are going to cause.
“It should be a total, zero tolerance no drinking and driving.
“If you have had a drink then please don’t drive. You might have only had one, but you can still cause that devastation.
“What somebody who drinks and drives needs, they need to spend a bit of time with a family like ours just to see what hurt they cause, and maybe that would do the trick.
“Aiden was a really happy-go-lucky lad with his whole life ahead of him.
“That night his friends had been drinking and he was driving them home. He knew not to drink and drive.”
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