Friday, February 13, 2009

Dad tracks DWI suspects as tribute to daughter

Dad tracks DWI suspects as tribute to daughter

18-year-old was killed by drunk driver


CONROE, Texas -- If you're driving west on 105 in Conroe, one billboard stands out above the others. Peering down on passers by, a young woman with a beautiful smile. Meghann Smith was killed by a drunk driver in October of last year, just one month after her 18th birthday. 

"I sure miss her, I know that," said Doug Smith, Meghann's father. 

"Yeah, it's so painful not having her around," agreed his wife, Margaret. 

For the Smiths, the wound is fresh. 

"I really don't want to accept that she's gone and won't be back," said Margaret Smith. "The pain is unbearable." 

This isn't the family's first encounter with a drunk driver. Seventeen years ago, Doug Smith almost suffered the same fate while standing on the side of the road.

"The driver came off the highway, hit me, knocked me a hundred feet down the road and ran over me again as he left," he remembered. 

He's been recovering ever since, and now he's channeling the pain of his daughter's loss into a legacy. 

Smith now roams the streets as a DWI tracker, ever on the lookout for suspicious drivers. When he spots one, he calls the authorities and they do the rest. 

All we are is eyes and ears, an extension," Smith said. "Sort of like a giant neighborhood watch." 

Smith's calls have resulted in 15 DWI arrests in 90 days. 

We went with the Smiths to the spot where their daughter died while she was on the lookout for traffic as her boyfriend changed a flat. 

"It's just like being hooked up to the electric chair," Doug Smith said. "Our hearts have exploded right out of our chests." 

They do what they do now for others knowing that nothing will bring their own daughter back 

"It just wasn' t fair, baby," Margaret said over her Meghann's grave. "I'm sorry. It shouldn't have happened to you." 

Now they hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.



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