By, Bryan Garner
I got a call from our newsroom in the early morning. There was a bad accident on Cove Road in Stuart. An SUV collided with a front end loader working a construction project. Three people were killed.
At the time, we didn't know much about the people involved in the crash. We heard they were adults, maybe in their 20's.
But about an hour after I arrived at the scene, the story changed very quickly.
About thirty teenagers arrived all at once, leaning on each other for support, carrying flowers and cards. There were lots of tears and confused faces.
That's when we learned the three people killed in the crash were teenagers: Nick Coady, age 18, Chris Brigglio, 18, and Connor Graver, 16. All were students or recent graduates of South Fork High School.
When state troopers told us, very early in their investigation, they were confident alcohol played a role in the crash, I had a grim feeling of deja vu.
Seven years ago, I covered a very similar and equally heart wrenching crash along Kanner Highway in Stuart. A 16-year old boy named Stephen Bromstrup had been drinking with friends. He ran his car through a stop sign, slamming into another car, killing two young girls and injuring a third.
One of the girls killed in that crash was 14-year old Sarah Stone. I met her mother and father, Beth and Tim, the day after Sarah was killed. They clung to each other, sobbing.
I had never seen such sadness in my life, until I witnessed it again this month along Cove Road.
"I am just so sorry that children continue to kill themselves and others," Beth Stone wrote me in an email this week. "Our kids should be too smart for this to continue to happen!"
She has reason to be frustrated. Kelly Tyko, my colleague at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, has written about Martin County's persistent problem with teen alcohol abuse.
In 2000, the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey showed Martin County students use alcohol, tobacco and drugs at a higher rate than most other teens in the state.
The community responded. Martin County launched it's own Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter. Beth Stone started speaking out to students, community groups and anyone who would listen. Tim Stone helped launch a program to have high school students take a safe driving pledge, and post bumper stickers in their car windows. There was a public awareness campaign - "Parents Who Host Lose the Most" - highlighting the penalties for serving alcohol to minors.
And it worked. In 2002, 2004 and 2006, the survey numbers improved. Kids got the message.
Then, in 2008, the numbers shot back up again. And now, three more teens are dead from a suspected alcohol involved crash.
What happened? Is our community's memory so short?
When Stephen Bromstrup got out of prison this past spring and spoke to seniors at Martin County High School, many of the students did not know his history, or the details of the crash that killed the girls.
We can only hope that each generation of teenagers doesn't have to relearn the lessons of the past -- that drinking and driving kills.
Thursday night, Beth Stone will join other members of the community, including M.A.D.D., in a community forum called "We're Not Invincible." They hope to provoke a conversation about the dangers of drinking and driving, and promote the kind of activism we saw after Beth's daughter was killed.
Organizers of the event make it clear: a community problem needs community action.
The event is open to the public.
Martin County Administrative Center
2401 SE Monterey Rd, Stuart
WHEN:
Thursday, August 13, 2009
7:00pm-9:00pm
