My dad was hit and killed while standing next to a broken down vehicle. Hazards were flashing and he was holding a lighted flashlight. With a viewing distance of over a football field the offender claims he did not see anything and hit my father and the vehicle. My father was thrown and run over. While he lay dying under the 1988, unispected SUV the offender just stood and watched. A passerby called 911 and while my father was taken the offender was given a citation for 2nd. offense after suspension. The troopers on the scene said he did not show signs of impairment and no sobriety test was given. They also never noticed that he had a restriction on his license for eyewear. The trooper said he did not have corrective eyewear. The troopers said they could see the hazard lights from a long distance as they approached the scene and said they thought he should be charged. District Attorney Melkonian agreed he was a criminal but did not think he could win the case and would not go forward. The 1988 Bronco was unisured and impaired, it had only a driverside headlight, stolen NH inspection sticker, three different sized tires and the seat was positioned in "gangster mode" (reclined to a 45 degrees). We will never know if the offender was on anything that evening because in Massachusetts there is no law that says after an accident, with a major injury or fatality, there is a mandatory sobriety test. If this happened in New Hampshire they could hold you down and draw your blood if you refuse under the same circumstances. Of course, my father had a blood test and nothing was found during his autopsy. The offender got off again. He has not learned his lesson yet. I know of another speeding offense in 2007. His 12 pg. record showed arrests for drugs, suspensions (too many to count), speeding (too many to count), and other accidents that he caused. Our boys miss their Papa as does my brother, mother, son in law and the rest of our family. We are good people and we follow the laws. Please help us pass this law. Too many good people are being hurt on our roads.
Thank you,
Robin Sullivan
