My Name is Ed and I lost my only grand-daughter back on March 17,2006 just to another drunk driver here in the United States. Megan was only 5 years of age and she was riding in the back of a van that was driven by my wife. I 'am sure that it could have been worse seeing that also in the van was one of my grand-sons and his name is Chad and my mother-in-law Laura.
They were on their way to church and to a A.W.A.N.A. program and were almost in our churches driveway when the van was slammed in the rear by the drunk driver. he was going at a speed of around 75 to 80 miles an hour and he just passed another vehicle on the road before he met my wife. After hitting the van the drunk driver got out of his truck and took a look around to see all the carnage that he just made and got back in his truck and took off. Leaving all my family for dead, he was not apprehended until 4 or 4:30 a.m. the next morning, and the accident happened at 7:oop.m. Friday night. My wife had 7 or 8 staples put in her head to close a gaping wound and she was knocked out from the impact. And upon awakening she heard her mother screaming outside the van and my wife saw that she was holding Chad and my mother-in-law thought my wife was dead when she saw the blood on her face. My mother-in-law told my wife that she could not find Megan and my wife could not get her drivers door open. She crawled across the seat and came out the passengers side. She found Megan under the van and grabbed her from there. Megan was alive and she was conscious. My wife saw that her leg was mangled and there was not a bruise or a scratch on her face. No marks on her upper body were present. Megan spoke to her and said grammy I 'am sorry that I might have soiled my pants. My wife held her in her arms sitting on the bank waiting for help to come and told Megan that it was all right. Her other grand-father raced down the church driveway after hearing someone got struck at the driveway. He knew from the description of what the church member gave him that it was Megan and his son's van. He was by their side in seconds as he leaned down to talk to Megan. She replied back to him but he did not hear what she said. The ambulance came and the medi-vac helicopter was sent also and my grand-daughter spoke her last words to her grand-mother my wife. Grammy I Can Not Breathe. She had died in the helicopter on her way to the hospital.
I found out a lot about drunk driving and you can blame M.A.D.D. for strict rules and regulations but they are not strict enough. You can blame politicians and they also will not change bills or touch your driving privileges and they are not enough. I have now contacted every Representative and Senator in my state to get drunk driving laws changed. I contacted M.A.D.D. for better regulations to no avail. A drunk driver states that his or her's Constitutional rights are being walked on. To see what Megan meant to the other grand-father click on this site. www.snmbc.org and scroll to the bottom and click on my tribute to Megan. Also you can read a article that I had published in the Penn State University newspaper here is the article.. http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2007/07/30/not_enough_being_done_about_dr.aspx
Also here is a letter about your Constitutional rights I made.
The United States Constitution
And Your Forefather’s
To use the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights to your own gratification and to state the articles therein to possibly sweep away your crimes is appalling. Stating that they protect you from searches and seizures and imprisonment is truly misleading. You are taking out two words in these articles unless by PROBABLE CAUSE. The dispersing of alcohol from state to state and the transporting of alcohol was prohibited 1919 and then it was amended in 1933. A lot of people complain that their right of freedom of movement and their liberties such as pursuit of happiness and justice for all is being abused by law enforcement and leaders. Our forefathers did not have the means of automobiles back then and they certainly did not have excess to a thousand types of beer and whiskey back then. Their means of transportation was by horse and carriage or to walk. To be drunk on a horse was devastating maybe to the person who drank only while riding. And if by carriage, and the driver was drunk the persons in the carriage might be hurt, but hardly like it is today with automobiles. The carnage it causes is great meeting a person whose happiness was getting drunk and performing his right of free movement is not so great. I wonder what our forefathers would say today about the mixing of alcohol and an automobile that reaches speeds up and over 100 miles an hour. Do you think that article would stay the same? Now let us look at justice for all. It states in one of the Articles the bail amount not to be excessive. Nor excessive fines are imposed or cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted. Back then they had little money and most were farmers. Today we have Hollywood Stars and they also drink and drive and get caught. They may get 3 or 4 days in a county jail or get off completely. And if they happen to take another’s life while drunk they may get only a year in jail or community service. And also their freedom of movement restored to them. The taking of a life is a crime no matter how you cause it. You as the person that took that life denied them of their rights of freedom also. Their pursuit of happiness, freedom of movement, was taken away by you. Where is that justice for all that we speak of? We give murders that shoot another person and end their lives 25 to life and sometimes without parole. We give child molesters 5 to 10 years in jail and then track them and they must report on right where they are at. So that crime will not happen again. They can not live anywhere near a group of children or be near any schools. It is not a right to drive a vehicle and it never was. It is a privilege and that privilege can be taken away. The only reason why it is not is also simple. The drunk driver is just another commodity used by all the states they bring in revenue. And their crimes also bring in that revenue. We were all taught at an early age by many people that drunk driving kills through many resources that our government gives and supports to show that drunk driving kills. But then all the states put into effect saying that it is some type of cruelty for these same drunk drivers that are caught not to be able to get their license back. So your driver’s license is always obtainable after you pay your restitution and it comes by a form. It may be called a Hardship Clause or an O.L.L. license (Occupational Limited License) and all the states have this. So then it is called a double standard when the government states that it is a privilege to drive and supports the many resources stating Drunk Driving Kills and then turning around giving your privilege to drive back. All because it is big money and all the revenue that it can and does bring in. When you say it is your right to do this or do that just remember that right pertains to all Americans and not just you. And when you infringe on another’s rights by ignoring those rights of another you are a danger to society. That privilege to drive should be taken away there is no doubt. The Constitution only allows the right of freedom of movement and it does not have to be by vehicle. No we do not need another prohibition that is your decision to drink alcohol but others rights are being violated as you decide to exercise your privilege to drive drunk behind a vehicle. Many town s have many laws still on their books. Now if you were in this town visiting and spit on a sidewalk and someone saw you do this and turned you in. You might be spending the night in jail because it is a law in their town not to spit on their sidewalks. Are your rights violated? Why not take your rights a step further go into work drunk and tell your boss that he is violating your rights on the pursuit of happiness and that you want to be drunk and your suing him. What would happen? I leave you with this last thought. When a pilot reports to duty drunk and is caught before he takes off with a load of 200 passengers. What Happens? Do they let him? Why? He has a license and he had that right to drink why not let him fly? You are violating his rights flying makes him happy; you are also disrupting his right of freedom of movement.
Who was Megan Madeline Thomas?
Megan was a little girl who always had a smile on her face. When she woke up first thing in the morning, and felt the warmth of sunshine hit her face, she would open those big blue eyes and always had a smile. When she would stay at our house she would wake up first thing in the morning and head right to grand-pa and grand-ma’s bedroom. She would try and be quiet and she would crawl in our bed and snuggle up to her grand-ma underneath the blankets. Then she would take those little feet of hers and place them on your nice warm legs in which it would produce a scream from you. Her feet were always much colder than your warm legs. She would always smile and laugh at this and it always woke you from any kind of extra sleep. She loved attention and tickles in which she always got from everyone and anyone who ever knew Megan could not help but love this little girl. At the age of 3 Megan just like other little girls around the United States fell in love with a movie. The movie to no ones surprise was called “The Wizard Of Oz”. In which many of you also saw at that age and loved. Megan wore out 3 video tapes of it watching it and memorizing the many songs on the tape. Her favorite song was “Over the Rainbow”. She knew every word by heart and sang it all the while. Her father Sam Thomas (my son-in-law) and her mother Marcy (Lindsey my only daughter) Thomas taught her at an early age on the many aspects of life. That most of us got from our own parents. She could recite her full name to you, and where they lived, and her phone number, and both of her parent’s names. She was taught that there were bad people out there in the world, which could possibly do a little girl harm at her age. Sam and Marcy also were trying to teach her at the age of 4 what good and evil was because they are both Christian parents. She could grasp the concept on what good was because she never did see any evil in anyone. She never did understand evil! She still would walk up to perfect strangers, and start conversations with them, and walk away instant friends with a stranger, and of course her mother and father were always present, and would apologize to the person. She made many friends because she was out going and curious. At the age of 4 our next door neighbor called me and said “Ed I have something for your grand-daughter that I hope she will love”. The next door neighbor whose name is Barb came to our house with the surprise and it was a big complete old house that was old and in their family for years. Another object also she brought with her, was a little dolls bed that was a rocker type, complete with a little mattress, and a little blanket. Megan loved this and she constantly played with it. We had a little kitten and she was a little on the wild side, but around Megan the kitten became as a lamb, and was quite calm around Megan, and never scratched her. Megan would haul this kitten around, and place the kitten in that bed, and cover the kitten up with that little blanket. When my son-in-law and daughter would leave to go back to their own home in Breesport, New York with our grand-children I would catch the kitten sometimes curled up in that same bed and sleeping. At the later stages of her life of 4 Megan and my grand-sons saw a movie and the movie was “Annie” and the children loved it so much that Sam went out and purchased it. Her new and favorite song from this movie was “Tomorrow” and she learned every word to this song, and proudly when she came here to see us, she would get up in front of us and sing it. With a big smile on her face. Megan also was a planner much like her father Sam, and around in January or February of 2006, had her father’s and mother’s agenda all planned out for that coming year. Her plans for that coming year as she recited them to her father were simple. First on that list, as Sam listened and smiled at her was to be taken to a circus that was coming to the area in April or May of 2006. Sam already purchased the tickets ahead of time as he listened. Next on that list was this, I and the boy’s want to go to Disneyland this summer. And the last want was just to go out camping and staying overnight somewhere in the woods. Megan was killed on March 17th of 2006 by another drunk driver in Pennsylvania. Her Tomorrow’s never came and her agenda for that year was changed forever. She had another important meeting to make, and that was with her God, and she did love God. Many important aspects of her case and the man that took her life came into view and many wrongs of some kind of justice also became present. I had to look at bills and clauses that protect the drunk driver and not the little girl’s life that this man surly took. Many bills that were passed just recently in this Commonwealth and a lot of you are proud to state to me. We lowered the B.A.C. level to .08 percent in 2003 but the one thing you did not tell me is this. A drunk driver has a right to get his driver’s license restored under a hardship clause. A board reviews a form that is sent in and then if accepted goes to the Bureau Of Motor Vehicles and the person checks on all these things behind a computer. And then the drunk driver is issued an O.L.L. license to drive. No law enforcement is ever sent out to check on any of these carriers of these licenses and the word of the offender is taken that the vehicle stated is only going to be used for work purposes only. That is it? During all this time this man was out on bail and he still had that license. No one actually reported that he just killed this little girl. The magistrate that morning that this man had to appear in front of after his apprehension placed his bail amount at $100,000.00 because of a flight risk. The only stipulation placed on him by this magistrate was to give a permanent address on where he could be reached if he made bail. Nothing like No drinking if you make bail. Nothing like No driving if you make bail. The man made bail about a month later and before his final sentencing was caught out drinking and possibly driving again. He was seen in November drunk again at a diner in Susquehanna County and no one can testify if he was also driving, because the simple fact is no one showed to catch him. The State Police were called and no one came? The excuse I received was that all of them were at a homicide investigation in Susquehanna and the first 24 hours is critical in any case. Does that mean that no one is actually left on duty to protect our citizens against another crime that could be possibly committed then? Like a Bank Heist or another murder or a car accident? No I think that it is just another excuse to cover up the wrongs of a justice system that is being stretched to its limits. Down sizing and money problems and cutting back on man power and the leaving of the citizens to protect and serve for themselves? What other view do I have? No one showed up? The sentencing was moved up after he was found lying to the investigator and was out drinking again. Old laws that say my only grand-daughter’s worth is around $3,000.00 to $6,000.00 in Pennsylvania and yes it is still in the books and it has not changed. I forget that price but it is one of these. In New York State her or anyone’s monetary worth is that of a farm hand? I looked at a bill entitled Clean Slate in which some counties have this and all it is to do is if you are caught underage drinking and after a few years of not doing it again we wipe that slate clean of all your offenses? Why not do these to a child molester then or a murderer just simply wipe that slate clean like nothing happened? I looked at so many bills for the drunk drivers that are still in the books that it gave me a headache. Lastly I gave my Victim Impact Statement to this man and court. He showed no remorse as I read this to him and not a tear was shed by him. His eyes were glazed like someone on drugs and no emotion was showed. I simply told him this. I can not forgive you on what you have done. Because the simple fact is while my grand-daughter lay under that van after you struck it in the rear at a high rate of speed and you got out of your truck drunk and looking at the carnage you just made. Turned your back on her and all my family and got back in that truck and took off. No, I can not forgive you for finally showing my grand-daughter what my son-in-law and daughter so desperately tried to show her at an early age on what Evil is. As she finally saw it in you, with those big blue eyes, as you turned your back and left her for dead. What more can I say to you? Is justice blind? Is Justice Deaf? Is Justice mute and can not speak? Answers I wait for and my tribute to Megan would be to get these laws changed. Another Megan to die in this horrible way by another Drunk Driver would be a shame for her and my family when laws that can and should be changed by you are still in these books. Yes every minute of every day another Megan, Jessica, Mary, Ellen, Susie, Tommie Joey, Billy or whatever name you pick dies in this Commonwealth under these same laws that we call justice? Finally if you want to know on what Megan means to him and he is the other grand-father I will give you the site to go to and it was written by him. He is the pastor of South New Milford Baptist Church in Susquehanna County and if you scroll to the bottom you will see My Tribute to Megan written by him. Just click on it and read his tribute to a girl that is just like many other little girls in this Commonwealth. www.snmbc.org
The last thing is this How do your constituents portray you? What do they actually think about you? When they had to view this budget this year and wait for answers on whether they had a job or not and how they were possibly going to feed there families. And then they have a report that was broadcasted throughout Pennsylvania that the Casino’s would stay open and our State Liquor stores also would be open. They perceive it this way that revenue and taking of money must not stop even for a state budget. The Commonwealth can not shut these down even though I have no job or money coming in. Who do you suppose they are looking at? The Governor, or as the whole body as a unit both Senator’s and Representatives? In order to get back on the right course I leave you with this. What do the first three words in our United States Constitution say? No where in this great document does it say I the person. So you also are perceived as that unit.
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Educating our children on drunk driving and then turning around in America giving these trained adults a double standard is confusing. We teach them at an early age through many sources that drunk driving kills. Through parents, schools, District Attorneys, State Police, Papers, Media, Our High Way signs we put up on our roads and etc. There is no doubt that the alcohol revenue is great because it is big money. To change a drunken driving law the legislatures all have to look at two items and this is also true. Your family or that Revenue. It is a constant balancing act and what is held hostage? Certainly not your privilege to drive and most certainly not the drunk driver because he is a commodity a useful tool to bring in more revenue. Rehabilitation on drunk drivers has a failure rate of 80 to 90%. The one question is do we want to actually do something about this or not? Or do we leave our families on that Russian Roulette until that drunk driver takes their life. Below is just some of the research I have done and I can tell you it has been hard. The reason why is also attached to and this is just a few letters to our Representatives and Senator's in Pennsylvania.
Tomorrow’s future in Pennsylvania lies in the hands of your own children. But if that killing goes on in Pennsylvania then who is left?
Drunk Driving is a concern to all Americans and to all Christians and it is the number one killer in the United States above all else. We are all taught at a early age that drunk driving kills through schools, district Attorneys, State Police, Driver's Education, Parents, Media, papers, highway signs and billboards,. It also is a money making business for all states throughout America. Brewing companies’ lobbyists are throughout the United States and they pull the strings on any local politician to get any sort of restraint put on alcohol and its use. In Pennsylvania we have what you call a Hardship Clause or an O.L.L. License (Occupational Limited License) A form is sent in by the offender and a driver's license issued on an honor system. No one ever checks on an O.L.L. License carrier we take their word that the vehicle is only going to be used for work purposes only. How wrong we are and it is being abused. Big Money, Big Revenue, and your family is at risk every single day. So you see the drunk driver always gets that license back no matter what. If we do not take that driver's license away permanently and confiscate those vehicles our children are at risk. They also have alternatives to get to work and back. Walk, ride a bike, pay for a ride, ride a horse, bus, family member and the list goes on. I want you to see what a drunk driver really thinks and this is also true with all of them. About their license and rights and etc. The web site is written by a drunk driver look at the whole web site but make sure that you also read his story under My Story. Also about M.A.D.D. And all the other things about D.U.I. Lawyers who by the way hold a seminar once a year in Las Vegas on how to get you off your convictions and your driver's license back. I want you to read my most recent letter that I wrote to our Representatives and Senator's in Pennsylvania to get our laws changed. Course it is about the 10 or 12 th letter I wrote them all. That danger is real and it is alive throughout the United States. Here is the disgusting web site
Http://www.drunkdriverinfo.com/OWILifeAndRiskPage.asp
Pastor Thomas Tribute To Megan Click on Web Site and scroll to the bottom and click on my tribute to Megan
www.snmbc.org
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Matt 18:2 "And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea | | |