Drunk Driving by Terri Rimmer - originally published by the Camden County Tribune, 1990

On Betty Linxwiler's car is a Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) bumper sticker.

Glen and Betty Linxwiler of Woodbine, GA have empathy with the organization. (Source: Dalton Sirmans)

Their 18-year-old daughter, Christina was killed in a head-on collision by a drunk driver in Nov. 1987. Christina was traveling on Osborne Street on her way to work at Gilman Hospital's nursing home when she was struck at 10:30 p.m. by the driver who had been drinking all day. The Linxwilers said it wasn't clear whether the driver was leaving the depot or a beer joint on Crooked River when she struck Christina's car.

The driver's car came across the dividing line and hit Christina's car head-on. A male who was following the driver witnessed the collision 100 yards from the WKBX radio station.

After their daughter was killed the couple contacted the Brunswick chapter of MADD.

"They certainly were interested," Glen said. They offered literature, emotional support, and volunteered to to go the trial with us."

The Harriett's Bluff woman who was driving the car that killed Christina was sentenced to four years in prison for second-degree vehicular homicide but the fact that the woman was drunk was not addressed tin court, said Glen.

The woman was also driving on a revoked license and was a repeat offender who had several traffic violations.

"That thing that was a little disturbing to me about the whole process was I thought using the MADD name would have some impact (on the case). It really didn't," said Glen.

He said after the trial, which took a year, he approached the district attorney who he had talked to before the trial. He said the attorney was aware that MADD was involved in the case to some degree and that he was aiming for a 15-year sentence or at least ten.

"He (the district attorney) assured me that the woman would get the severest possible sentence. They (the attorneys) met in a back room and agreed on four years," said Glen. "I was furious, of course. He (the district attorney) said it was out of his hands. I called the attorney representing the woman and he laughed and said, 'We knew Mad Mommas were involved in this, but they have no impact on the court.'"

That's certainly true, Glen said.

"The court was very reluctant to charge anybody with drunk driving in the case of a homicide," he stated.

Glen said the woman's attorney also told him he thought four years in prison was a fair sentence.

"The irony of the whole thing is that guy who put a rat in a beer (at a Coors Beer Brewery) got a more serious sentence than the woman who killed my daughter," he said. "I'm supportive (of MADD) in that I would like it to be an organization that has an impact on the court. The court just wasn't interested."

The couple said the woman who hit Christina's car could not be considered for parole and that the reason why she didn't receive a five-year sentence was because she was going to get an automatic review.

Glen said he had to pass the spot where his daughter was killed every day on his way to work back in Dec. 1990.

"Emotionally you can't describe it," he revealed. "You drive down the highway some night and you see a drunk wobbling all over the road and you just want to run them off the road. It just infuriates you."

The couple stayed busy working and spending time with their 16-year-old son back then. Glen worked at Vitro in St. Marys and Betty at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.

"We've sort of been supportive of other people in other situations," said Glen.

The couple, originally from Washington state, described their daughter as outgoing, hard-headed, and stubborn. While in high school, Christina was president of the academic society and had just decided the day before the accident to go to medical school to become a doctor.

"They say they don't have enough room (for drunk drivers) but it seems like they could do something," said Betty. "They kept her (the driver) only long enough for someone to bail her out and that was it. She was probably out drinking and drugging that same day."

"It was a disgrace," said Glen.