via spokesman:
OLYMPIA – Linda Thompson has been advocating for tougher laws against drunken driving for more than 30 years.
And on Monday she was at it again, this time testifying at a state Senate hearing for a bill that would lower the blood alcohol limit for driving, citing her extensive experience as a “preventionist.” But that was not the only experience that compelled her to testify.
“Mostly, I am here being the mom of Trevor,” Thompson said.
Her 3-year-old son, Trevor, was killed in a crash with a 17-time repeat drunken driving offender in 1986.
“In the courtroom, at sentencing, a woman told our family: ‘He was going to kill someone sooner or later. Sorry about that,’ ” Thompson recalled.
Deaths like Trevor’s have persisted over the years. This year, Washington had 745 traffic fatalities, the highest in more than 30 years. Of these deaths, more than half were caused by impaired drivers.
Thompson is now president of the Washington Association of Substance Misuse and Violence Prevention, and has worked at Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Counseling.
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