Crash That Killed Five Family Members Sparks Progressive Legislation in New Mexico
 |
Clockwise from top:
Jacqueline, Paul and Selena Gonzales |
The tragic 2006 drunk driving crash that killed five members of a New Mexico family led to the state’s 2007 passage of a model law, which MADD hopes other states will consider.
To get a New Mexico driver’s license, the law requires installation of an ignition interlock in the car of anyone convicted of DUI/DWI anywhere in the U.S since June, 2005, when Governor Bill Richardson signed the Ignition Interlock Act, making New Mexico the first state to enact an interlock law. The state’s Motor Vehicle Division can now access out-of-state DUI/DWI conviction records. It is also the first and only state to name a DWI Czar.
When Paul Gonzales (36), his wife Renee (38) and their daughters Jacqueline (11), Selena (10) and Alisha Garcia (17) were all killed in the horrific November 11 crash, only 15-year-old daughter Arissa Garcia survived. The drunk offender, Dana Papst, died in surgery at the hospital. At the time of the crash, he had a blood alcohol content (BAC) level of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit in New Mexico.
On the day of the crash, Papst had been drinking on an airplane from Reno to Albuquerque and then drove his car from the airport to Bernalillo, where he bought beer. He attempted a U-turn on Interstate Highway 25, intending to join the southbound traffic. Instead, he turned head-on into the traffic that had been travelling northbound with him. He hit several cars and police were on the way when he finally crashed into the Gonzales’ car. He had no record of alcohol-related incidents in New Mexico, but he had four prior DUI convictions in Colorado. At the time, New Mexico had no knowledge of out-of-state alcohol-related convictions.
New Mexico’s lifesaving success
On March 7, 2008, Governor Richardson announced that New Mexico now ranks 17th among all states in the number of DWI fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. He cited the state’s progress from 6th to 14th place in the nation in 2006 in alcohol-related fatalities.* New Mexico had led the nation in drunk driving fatalities from 1979 through 1996, with nearly 400 alcohol-involved fatalities annually in the early 1990s.
A public service campaign also urged communities to become engaged by joining law enforcement efforts to keep roads safe. The dramatic surge in calls to The Drunk Buster’s Hotline allowed the public to report possible instances of drunk driving, and helped increase New Mexico’s DWI arrests.
Gonzales relatives join MADD’s efforts
Since the crash, Paul’s aunt, Eppie Rivas, has juggled her nursing job with volunteer work for MADD. She immediately called MADD’s state office when she heard about the family’s crash. “The victim advocates have been – and still are – the greatest,” Rivas says. “After the crash, I asked them to find something for me to do. That’s how I got through this.” Her newest goal is to help get funding for a MADD affiliate in Las Cruces.
At the MADD National Fundraising Institute in March, Paul’s mother, Maxine Gonzales, received a national award as the Outstanding Development Volunteer of the Year for her help in raising $9,000 for New Mexico’s Strides for Change (now called Walk Like MADD) fundraising event in Albuquerque. She speaks at many MADD events and stays involved with MADD “because I don’t think anyone deserves to go through what we’ve been through. It’s been a nightmare. I can’t even describe the pain.”
Maxine and her husband Ralph, both nurses, own Alternative Home Health Care Agency, where their son Paul was the accountant. “Ironically,” Maxine says, “Paul was involved with the Students Against Driving Drunk (SADD) chapter in high school. He had signed a contract saying that he would never drink and drive.” More recently her son taught defensive driving, CPR, first aid and coached his daughters’ basketball team.
Paul’s alma mater, Robertson High School in Las Vegas, NM will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony in May for “Paul’s Corner,” a beautifully landscaped area with benches, five pillars and five trees, in memory of Paul and the other four family members killed. “Paul was gung-ho for the Cardinals,” says Maxine, “and a great fundraiser for them. He was a very special guy.”
*National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures cite New Mexico’s dramatic progress in reducing drunk driving-related crash fatalities, with discretionary interlocks offered to reduce offenders’ sentences, and the 2005 law mandating interlocks. The percentages below are total drunk driving-related fatalities out of the entire traffic fatalities that year:
2002: 189 or 42%
2003: 176 or 40%
2004: 185 or 36%
2005: 149 or 30%
2006: 136 or 28%
Since New Mexico’s ignition interlock law, five other states have passed laws mandating ignition interlocks for first-offenders: Louisiana, Arizona, Illinois, Washington, and Nebraska. This year legislation was signed into law mandating interlocks for first-time convicted drunk drivers with a BAC of .15 or greater in West Virginia. Bills requiring interlock for convicted drunk drivers have also been introduced or are currently in development in California, Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, Michigan and Alabama.
Honor victims and survivors of drunk driving crashes by completing an online tribute.
Make a donation in support of MADD's lifesaving work.
Join MADD in the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving to help make your community safer.
Top