Yates County’s latest DWI Victim Impact Panel brought court-ordered offenders face-to-face with the consequences of impaired driving this week, including a mother’s account of losing her 21-year-old daughter in a crash.
The Yates County STOP DWI Program held the panel Sept. 23 at the County Office Building in Penn Yan. Twenty-nine people had been ordered by local courts to attend, but 12 failed to appear.
Sheriff Francis Ryan, who chairs the task force’s Victim Impact Panel, said the program is intended to help courts show people charged with alcohol- or drug-related driving offenses how their decisions can affect victims and their families.
Those who attended were required to check in and undergo security screening and breath testing before the program began. Sheriff’s deputies, court security officers, Penn Yan police and Yates County probation officers participated.
Ryan also used the event to emphasize that New York’s legalization of marijuana didn’t make driving while impaired by marijuana or other drugs legal.
The evening’s featured speaker was Kimberly Clark, who shared the story of her daughter, Emilee.
According to the STOP DWI program, Emilee was 21 when she was riding with a friend after a night out. A distraction contributed to the driver leaving the road and striking a culvert, and Emilee was ejected through the vehicle’s sunroof.
Clark now shares her family’s experience through Emilee’s Challenge, an educational trailer documenting that crash and another alcohol-related crash that killed four people in Steuben County. She also speaks at schools and other events about the consequences of impaired driving.
Representatives from FLACRA and Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes also attended Wednesday’s panel and provided information about substance abuse and victim services available in the region.
Yates County legislators Sarah Purdy and Terry Button and County Court Judge Mackenzie Stutzman attended as guests.
Participants are required to complete an evaluation before receiving a certificate documenting their attendance for the courts. The panel lasted about 75 minutes.
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