Statement: MADD is devastated that a helpless six-year-old was trapped underwater for at least half an hour because his mother allegedly drove drunk. We expect the courts to hold the alleged offender fully accountable for this despicable crime. This is why MADD demands Illinois laws be amended to consider child endangerment a felony and to charge these criminals with stricter punishments.
The Crash: A Cicero woman was intoxicated when she drove her SUV into a pond in Aurora, critically injuring her young son, DuPage County prosecutors said Tuesday in a Chicago Tribune article.
Ruvira-Garcia was driving with her six-year-old son, two daughters and her sister in her 2007 Nissan Xterra when she allegedly lost control of the vehicle, which landed in a retention pond. Police tested Ruvira-Garcia at the scene with a breathalyzer, and she showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.141 percent.
More information about the crash is available here.
Victim: Most of the passengers were not injured.
However, her son suffered a permanent brain injury, is unable to breathe on his own and is in a medically induced coma, according to the article, adding doctors are unsure whether the boy will survive.
By the numbers: In 2013, a total of 1,149 children 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those 1,149 fatalities, 200 (17%) occurred in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes. Out of those 200 deaths, 121 (61%) were occupants of vehicles with drivers who had BACS of .08 or higher, and another 29 children (15%) were pedestrians or pedal-cyclists struck by drivers with BACS of .08 or higher.
What you can do?: MADD continues to provide services to anyone impacted by an impaired driving crash at MADD’s 24/7 helpline at 877-MADD-HELP.
