Story Created:
Aug 15, 2008 at 4:17 PM MST
Story Updated:
Nov 21, 2008 at 12:43 AM MST
BOISE - For Camilla Cafferty it's not about who's to blame, but how to fix it.
“If we can prevent any other deaths or any other experience like myself and my family have been through, that's what this is about,” Cafferty said.
On August 17, 2004, a drunk driver killed Camilla's husband Patrick Cafferty in a head-on collision by Lucky Peak. It was Timothy Hedges' tenth DUI. Camilla's attorney Robyn Brody said the state could have prevented Patrick's death.
“Idaho has had a statue on the books for years that says it's illegal to give a habitual drunkard a driver's license. It's been on there forever, but it's never been implemented.”
Brody represented Cafferty in a civil suit against the Idaho Transportation Department, taking the agency to task for re-issuing Hedges license after his eighth DUI conviction. ITD settled the case out of court.
Friday, the two women held a summit to get a discussion going. They invited some of the state's top minds to identify the loopholes in Idaho law that let Hedges keep his license.
“And make sure we're all speaking the same language on the same page,” Brody said.
Cafferty said she will be working with Brody to draft legislation to change Idaho's Habitual Drunkard law. It could hit the legislature as early as the 2009 session, but most likely to be introduced in 2010.