Victims Of Impaired Driving Crashes Honored At Maryland Ceremony

BALTIMORE (WJZ)--Their lives taken instantly by drunk or impaired drivers, but today the families of those victims honor the lives of their loved ones. For the 12th year families took part in the Maryland Remembers Ceremony.

WJZ's Marcus Washington has more.

They are the faces that were taken by a deadly mistake.

Mothers, fathers and children, all victims.

"Unfortunately drinking and driving, drunk driving is still a problem," said Col. William Pallozzi, Maryland Secretary of State Police.

The families of the victims killed by drunk or impaired drivers come together again for the 12th annual Maryland Remembers Ceremony.

Another year supporting each other through what some say is a never ending pain.

"My suffering is not alone. Everybody here has been through the same pain, the same agony day after day after day," said Christopher Cheswick.

In Maryland there are more than 7,800 impaired driving crashes each year.

"Unfortunately for me, I just found out on Thursday that the man who killed my son was just arrested for a DWI in Virginia," Cheswick said.

"It's a preventable crash and that's what we need to understand; each one of these deaths were preventable," said Jim Ports, Dept. Sec. Department of Transportation.

To combat the issue, Maryland has a number of programs in place, including the spider team, focusing only on DUI's and DWI's.

Col. Pallozzi says, "We look at where the most troublesome areas are, overlay that with deaths, accidents and arrests and then they identify areas where they go in there and enforce."

Governor Larry Hogan just announcing Friday the expansion of the Ignition Interlock Program.

Any first time offender with a blood alcohol level of .08 to .14 will have enroll in the program and have driving privileges revoked.

This is just one of many pushes to end a problem that doesn't have to exist

"We need to remember those victims to help the families heal, but to also send the message to other people, do not drink and drive," said Ports.

Many of the programs put in place to end drunk or impaired driving include partnerships between both local and state law enforcement.