NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — As people ring in a new year, some old problems linger.
Kathy Kilgore Beeler often worries about longstanding problems around this time of year after her life changed 13 years ago.
“[My son] Cole actually was a sober passenger and he got into the vehicle with an impaired driver,” Kilgore said. “His blood alcohol content was .144 — almost double the legal limit of .08.”
June 4, 2011 is a day many of us may not remember, but one Kathy will never forget. Cole Kilgore was a 19-year-old passenger in a truck heading north on Highway 47 in Dickson. They were driving along when the vehicle locked up and slid into a guardrail.
“They exploded into flames and the driver died at the scene of the crash and Cole lived for 10 hours after the crash,” Kathy said.
A collision diagram in the crash report showed where the truck was found. The driver and Cole were both ejected from the truck before it stopped. Law enforcement denoted a burned areaa where Cole’s body landed.
“What I saw and heard and smelled that night is imprinted on my brain,” Kathy said.
Kathy’s story is one that sounds familiar to thousands of Tennessee families. According to data collected by the Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security and the Tennessee Highway Patrol, one in three fatal crashes involve a DUI.
“You don’t think it will ever happen to you, but it can, unfortunately,” Kathy said. “I never want this to happen to you.”
