Family who lost daughter to drunken-driving crash encourages Minnesotans to stay safe on the roads
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A Twin Cities family who lost their loved one to drunken driving put out a plea on Tuesday to drive sober during the holidays.
Breanna Remer died in a crash near Lake Elmo 15 years ago right before Thanksgiving and just shy of her 20th birthday. She was driving almost 100 mph and had a blood alcohol level of 0.13. She also was not wearing a seat belt and was texting at the time of the crash.
Her parents, Tim and Pam Remer stood with their daughter, Amanda, near Breanna’s grave on Tuesday.
"This is hard for us," Tim Remer said. "We don’t want anyone to go through what we have gone through and still going through to this day."
Minnesota law enforcement joined the family to encourage others to keep roads safe.
Pam Remer leaves flowers at the grave of her daughter, Breanna Remer, while her husband, Jim, and daughter Amanda look on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, at Cottage Grove Cemetery. Breanna Remer died in a crash 15 years ago while driving drunk and texting, just shy of her 20th birthday.[KSTP]
"Traffic fatalities continue to soar, reaching numbers we haven’t seen in more than a decade," said Shannon Grabow with the Office of Traffic Safety. "Today, we hit 452 so far this year — that’s the most since 2008, when we had 455 for the entire year."
Troopers, deputies and police officers will be increasing patrols to look for drivers who appear to be impaired by alcohol or other substances.