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Fairgoers get graphic reminder of impact of drunken driving

by TRICIA MANNING-SMITH / KING 5 News

NWCN.com

Posted on September 5, 2010 at 3:56 PM

Updated Sunday, Sep 5 at 4:14 PM

MONROE, Wash. - Hidden amongst the food and the fun at the Evergreen State Fair is a crowd stopper.

"It's terrible, I just can't believe it," said a young mother passing by.

She's reflecting on a vision of stark reality. On display is the actual car where four people lost their lives.

This drunken driving booth forces Taylor Boguch and Gemma Barker to look twice at the smashed car with its bashed out windows and battered in door.

"This could have been one of our friends. I could have been in that car," said Barker.

That's exactly the harsh impact this crashed vehicle is designed to have. Volunteer Karl Christian explains the display to Taylor and Gemma. 

"All four people in the car ended up being killed by the drunk driver. None of them had anything to drink," he said.

It's frightening to think about, worse to live with. Two of the four victims were Debbie Howell's parents.

"Just knowing that my parents were inside that car... They're now gone," she said.

Howell helped put together the Evergreen State Fair display that features the actual car in which her parents died.

"I hope it affects somebody walking through that fair, seeing that car, seeing my parents' story," said Howell.

A drunken driver killed her parents, Tom and Hilda Woods, along with their friends, Brad and Melissa Agerup, last Nov. 29 on Highway 9.  The driver was sentenced to eight years for vehicular homicide.

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I can't even imagine killing four people then having to live with that the rest of your life," said Taylor.

Taylor and Gemma's conversation is not one you'd typically expect at the fair, but it's one that may ultimately save a life.

 

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