SCHOOL by Gioia Sacco Killer Crashes Groups Want Kids to Take the DUI Promise May 11, 2002. The lives of three people in Pensacola changed drastically in a matter of four seconds. The laws of Florida say, “If one chooses to drink and drive and gets involved in an accident in which one is killed, that individual can be sentenced to 15 years.” And “if two people or more die in a car accident one can spend a 30-year sentence.” All these facts Eric Smallridge learned before serving an 11-year sentence on DUI-manslaughter charges. Feb. 23, 1996. Dori Slosberg and four others were killed in a car crash in the Boca Raton area that left two alive. Happening 20 years ago, the families have never been the same and the urge to stop drunken driving is at its breaking point. Families never heal when a loved one passes; the memory lives on. But it’s how the families decide to react to the situation that makes a lasting impact on the communities and loved ones around them. Lynn University hosted the Meagan Napier Foundation on March 1, just as it has done the past few years. Here the students walked in and sat down to a quiet room with Smallridge sitting on a chair in the front corner. The presentation began with a video including smiles, laughs, wailing, and sobbing. Renee Napier, the mother of Meagan, one of the girls who lost her life on Mother’s Day weekend 2002, spoke of her heartbreak, agony, and pain. But she shed no tears, for she focused on forgiveness, mending hearts, and saving lives. 114 The impact of spinning into a tree broke the necks of Meagan Napier and Lisa Dickson, killing them both. Smallridge’s truck slammed into the car carrying Meagan Napier and Lisa Dickson, two 20-year-olds on their way home from a babysitting job, sending the car spinning into a tree, instantly killing them both. Smallridge was coming home from a night of drinking: his bloodalcohol level was twice the legal limit. On Oct. 3, 2003, he was sentenced to 22 years in Florida State Prison, 11 years for each girl. Shortly after half of his first sentence, the Napier family went to court to lower his sentence from 22 years to 11; the judge agreed. Now Smallridge goes around with Renee Napier to tell his story and also how a decision to drink and drive will affect not only the driver but also family and friends. Many students at the Lynn event left the presentation speechless and impacted dramatically. For some of them, the phrase “I’m good to drive” is something they’ve said or heard too often. It’s especially important during the season for proms and graduation parties, Napier says, for teens to remember MAY 2016 the DUI promise: “I promise not to drive under the influence.” Bringing the point home to the South Florida community is the Dori Slosberg Foundation. Dori and her friends, coming home from a night of bowling, died in a high-speed crash on West Palmetto Park Road. After losing Dori, the Slosberg family decided to create the foundation to bring awareness of destructive driving to Boca Raton. Dori’s father, Irving “Irv” Slosberg, is a member of the Florida House representing parts of Boca Raton and West Boca. Emily Slosberg, a survivor of the accident and Dori’s twin, is following in her father’s political footsteps by running for state Senate in northern Palm Beach County. Her goal primarily is to lower the destructive driving rates in Florida. Young adults are not indestructible – no one is – but it’s what the community does to teach those around them, that “it can happen to you,” to be safe and be aware on the roads. P
the PARKLANDER 115