VICTIMS' PANEL DELIVERS IMPORTANT MESSAGE HERE

A gathering here last week of approximately 40 people who are serving probation because of drunken-driving offenses served to drive home the tragic consequences of drinking and driving.

The probationers who participated in the first-time meeting, arranged by Community Service Management for the Cape Girardeau Circuit Court, were required to attend and pay a $25 fee to hear first-hand accounts from family members whose loved ones have been killed or severely maimed in traffic accidents caused by drunk drivers.

Some of the stories that poured from the panelists, some of whom have lost children to drunk drivers, had to have touched the emotions of the probationers. Unpleasant graphic slides of corpses and wreckage were shown in a further effort to drive home the tragic results of driving drunk.

Among the panelists were Christine Rich, whose son, Bobby, 12, was killed in an accident 11 years ago. She told the probationers: "I can't describe how it feels to see someone you love so badly injured. You blow up inside. It took Bobby a day and half to die."

Deanna Kessler's 25-year-old son, David, was killed by a drunk driver just three blocks from the family's home. She told of her distress when she arrived at the scene and was told her son was dead, of how the body had to remain in the vehicle until a coroner arrived, and of a subsequent autopsy.

The two Kansas City women and other victim panelists make up RCR Publications Inc., a not-for-profit group that was formed in May 1990 in memory of David Kessler. They since have told their stories at similar gatherings attended by approximately 8,000 offenders, all in the interest of convincing those who have gotten behind the wheel drunk not to do so again.

The program is shock treatment that apparently is proving successful in the Kansas City area. A two-year check done by the group for 1990-92 showed that just 20 percent of those who attended the meetings there were back in court for similar offenses.

While it must be extremely difficult for the victims to recount their tragedies, the panelists are to be commended for taking on such an unpleasant task that requires much of their time.

The local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is considering establishing a similar program of drunk-driving victims who would conduct panel sessions. We hope they do so, so that meetings of this type can be held with more frequency and local input.

Not only do such sessions move offenders to change their ways, but victims are given the opportunity to become more involved in the justice system. And like the Kansas City group, many victims may find comfort in an outlet for public discussion of the burden they otherwise might carry alone.