Parents of teen killed in crash seek to change N.J. law

Some nights, John Farrace dreams that his son, Anthony, is still alive.

"Sometimes I dream and you can feel it," he says, clenching his fist over his heart, a hefty sheet-metal-working man crumpling in anguish. "And then I wake up, and you don't want to wake up."

That grief has led Farrace and his wife, Claudia, of Evesham, to push for a law to require any driver involved in a fatal accident to be tested for drugs and alcohol.

On the morning of July 6, 2007, Anthony, a 17-year-old rising senior at Cherokee High School, was riding shotgun in a Mercedes-Benz driven by his girlfriend, Danielle McLaughlin, on Route 70 in Southampton Township.

Around 9 a.m., McLaughlin, then 17, attempted to pass a tractor-trailer car carrier and lost control for unknown reasons, and the car struck a tree, according to a police report.

Farrace was dead by the time he was extracted from the car and placed in an ambulance, according to the police report.

McLaughlin, who was injured, eventually pleaded guilty to careless driving, resulting in a $200 ticket and a six-month license suspension.

The Farraces believe she should have been tested for drugs or alcohol.

Reached by phone, a woman who identified herself as McLaughlin told The Inquirer that she was tested for drugs at the hospital after the crash and that the results were negative. The police report indicates that she was not tested by police. A woman who identified herself on the phone as McLaughlin's mother referred calls to a lawyer, who did not return several phone calls over several days for comment.

Under state law, police must obtain a search warrant to test for drugs or alcohol unless a person gives consent to be tested. Search warrants require probable cause, meaning there must be evidence or reasonable suspicion that a driver is under the influence, such as an open container or the smell of alcohol on a driver's breath.

"I was shocked to find out the hard way that a law like this doesn't already exist," said John Farrace. "Everyone seems to think that it's mandatory to test for drugs and alcohol in an accident, but it's not. The nightmare really begins when we had to start dealing with the justice system."

Assemblymen Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester) and Nelson Albano (D., Cumberland) have introduced a bill to require drug and alcohol testing for drivers in all fatal crashes, Assembly Bill 3838.

"It is outrageous that unless police saw an empty beer bottle or drug paraphernalia they were essentially prohibited from even testing the driver responsible for Anthony's death," said Moriarty. "Testing drivers for potential alcohol or drug use should be the rule when accidents result in death or serious injuries, not the exception."

Moriarty said the law would not violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, because a person may opt to refuse a drug or alcohol test and suffer the consequence of losing his or her driver's license for at least seven months.

"Testing for the influence of drugs or alcohol at the scene of an accident makes common sense," Albano said. "Not only would police be able to determine whether a driver was under the influence, they would be able to ensure that impaired drivers don't get back behind the wheel and will face serious charges."

Introduced in March, the bill has been referred to the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee. It has not been scheduled for a hearing.

Raymond Milavsky, first assistant prosecutor in the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, said the investigation into whether to pursue criminal charges in the crash that killed Anthony Farrace has been closed.

"We looked at the totality of the circumstances including whether or not we could prove that the young woman - whether under the totality of the circumstances - her conduct constituted a violation of the statute," Milavsky said. "This case was also reviewed by the Attorney General's Office and they concurred with our findings - you could conclude she was neglectful, but it didn't rise to the level of recklessness, therefore there was no basis to prosecute."

In addition to mandatory drug and alcohol testing, the Farraces are pushing for a slew of other changes to state law to hold teen drivers more accountable.

Their other proposals include banning plea bargaining for teen drivers who cause fatalities or serious injuries, punishing the parents of such teen drivers, and mandatory criminal charges for teen drivers who cause serious accidents. They have not found sponsors for the other ideas.

In pushing for the changes, the Farraces hope to honor the memory of their son, who was a varsity wrestler and football player at Cherokee.

They also want to prevent others from going through the grief they have endured, they say.

Asked if he believes his son's girlfriend was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, Farrace said, "I guess we'll never know."