Fox 5 reports that after a DUI driver hit the vehicle that he and his family were in, the San Diego City leader is calling on motorists to avoid getting behind the wheel while intoxicated.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that one person will die every 39 minutes in collisions involving drunk drivers on New Year’s Eve.
That statistic hits too close to home for San Diego District 7 City Councilmember Raul Campillo.
Campillo recounted to Fox 5’s Zara Barker that just a few days before Christmas, he and his wife, Nadia, and their two-month-old son, Rafael, were out shopping for last-minute gifts when their vehicle was struck by a drunk driver.
“We were struck at high speed by a driver who had been drinking as we entered the Interstate 8 Freeway in La Mesa,” Campillo said. “The other driver completely failed to turn off the freeway and collided with us, directly on our driver’s side back wheel, somewhere at or near above 65 miles per hour.”
The driver then sped away from the crash scene but was found and arrested by the California Highway Patrol just a few miles away.
“We sat there with our side airbag exploded into our faces; the noise was deafening, but the scream of our baby is the sound that we will hear more than anything into the future,” Campillo recounted.
Campillo and his wife thought it important that members of the public know that such incidents happen far too often.
“Too many people are hurt by this irresponsible conduct,” Campillo said.
In a statement, San Diego Police Department Chief Nisleit also advised against drinking and driving.
“Every single one of these senseless crashes are 100% preventable,” Chief Nisleit said.
