Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 27, 1990 TAG: 9004270425
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Remembered were the victims of accidents caused by drunken drivers and the reminder was simple.
Drinking and driving kills.
Some 50 people who have lost loved ones to drunken-driving wrecks attended a "Candlelight Vigil of Rememberance and Hope" Thursday evening at Lee Plaza in downtown Roanoke.
Sponsored by the Roanoke Valley chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the vigil was organized in association with National Victim Rights Week.
Organizers hope to make it an annual event.
In addition to family and friends of drunken-driving victims, law enforcement representatives from Roanoke and Franklin counties and the state police attended.
Also lighting a candle at the vigil was Carol Hines, the wife of slain state Trooper Jerry Hines, who was gunned down during a routine traffic stop last year.
"He wasn't killed by a drunk driver, but he was killed after stopping a suspected drunk driver," Carol Hines said.
"We wanted to afford her the opportunity to light a candle for her husband," said Cathy Schuchman, MADD chapter president, "because there's more than one way to be killed by a drunk driver."
Roanoke Vice Mayor Bev Fitzpatrick, a speaker at the vigil, said that Hines lent additional credibility to the event.
He reported that 522 people were killed and 14,172 injured from drunken driving accidents in Virginia during 1989.
"The more we can heighten awareness that's what this is all about," Fitzpatrick said.
Schuchman was pleased with the turnout. Although the group claims 1,700 members, Schuchman said few of them are active.
"It's very painful for them because it brings that hurt to the surface," she said. "It's right there."
For that reason, she said, many friends and family members of drunken driving victims avoid chapter meetings and events like Thursday's vigil.
Still, she said "the need to remember their loved ones" brought many people to the ceremony. Some came from as far away as Covington, Lynchburg and Lexington.
"You know if they're willing to travel an hour-plus to do this, then they have a real need to be here," she said.
by CNB