It’s an unfortunate reality desperately needing change that each
new year will bring with it new tragedies like the one suffered by
Hollister’s Baxter family when they lost their son, Adam, on Jan.
2.
It’s an unfortunate reality desperately needing change that each new year will bring with it new tragedies like the one suffered by Hollister’s Baxter family when they lost their son, Adam, on Jan. 2.
Adam was riding in a car late at night with a friend who police say had been drinking. The driver lost control of the vehicle and drove into the ditch where the car hit a berm and Adam, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown through the windshield. He was later pronounced dead at Stanford Medical Center two days before he turned 21.
It’s another senseless tragedy in an area that has seen too many, leaving a family asking why they lost their brother and son, a friend in despair and a community wondering how it can stop these painful accidents from plaguing our small town.
National drunk-driving statistics bear a frightening similarity to Adam’s accident. In 2003, 77 percent of crashes from midnight to 3am were alcohol-related and 40 percent of all traffic fatalities were alcohol related – 74 percent of those victims were not wearing seatbelts, according to the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration. Traffic accidents are the single largest cause of death for people age 15 – 20 in America and 30.2 percent in that age group admit they have ridden with a drunk driver, according to statistics kept by Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In fact, 6,000 people died in 2002 from underage-drinking-related causes and over 2,200 of these deaths were alcohol-related traffic fatalities. For each death reflected in these numbers, there is a story just like Adam’s.
Our staff didn’t know Adam – we never had that chance – but with 346 days left of the new year, we do know this probably will not be the last article on an alcohol-related traffic fatality the Free Lance publishes this year. That’s the biggest tragedy of all. Our hearts go out to the grieving family and friends, and we fear for the youth who learn nothing from Adam’s passing.
We sincerely hope this disturbing trend changes and San Benito High School is working toward a that goal. This spring, the high school will host the Every 15 Minutes program – a powerful interactive message that teaches students every 15 minutes someone dies in an alcohol-related traffic accident. During the program, a student will be removed from class by the Grim Reaper every 15 minutes symbolizing another alcohol-related death, police will deliver a notification of death and some schools even stage a mock accident on campus – all designed to teach that the risks of drunk driving are real.
The time to talk with your children about the dangers of drunk driving is now. Tell them they have alternatives, tell them not to drink and drive or ride with others who have been drinking and at the very least tell them to wear their seatbelts.
Let’s not let Adam’s memory become just another faded cross along the forgotten road of shattered lives.
