Family Shares Loss of Loved One In Drunk Driving Crash

(KNSI) – A family living with the consequences of drinking and driving shared their story, hoping others wouldn’t make the same mistake.

Nineteen-year-old Breanna Remer died 15 years ago in a drunk driving crash near Lake Elmo. She was two weeks away from her 20th birthday and Thanksgiving. Her father, Tim Remer, says it’s tough to talk about his daughter’s death but says he wants to talk about it so other families won’t experience his pain.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety

“We call it a car crash, not a car accident because this didn’t happen by accident. This happened on purpose because Breanna had been drinking and because of other decisions that Breanna made that night.”

Tim says his daughter was texting, was unbuckled, and driving at nearly 100 mph when she lost control of her vehicle around 3:15 a.m. on November 11th, 2006. Around 8 a.m. that morning, Tim says he got a call from the hospital as he sat down to eat a bowl of cereal and start his day.

“The nurse says I’m sorry to tell you this, but your daughter was in a car crash last night. I said, well, is she alright? The nurse said no, she’s gone. I said No! And she said, Yes, I’m sorry. She didn’t make it.”

Tim says his daughter had a blood alcohol level of .13, almost twice the legal limit of .08. Tim, his wife Pam, and their other daughter Amanda had to identify Breanna’s body. Tim says not a day goes by when he doesn’t think about her.

“One of my biggest regrets is that I never got to walk Breanna down the aisle for her wedding. I had to walk down the aisle with her in a casket.”

Tim says if you drink, please don’t get behind the wheel. Call for a ride.

“And I can’t tell you how much I would have rather gotten woke up by a call from Breanna at 3:15 in the morning saying that she needed a ride home. Rather than getting that call, I got it at 8 a.m.”

Officials say the night before Thanksgiving is one of the heaviest drinking nights on the calendar. That’s why law enforcement across Minnesota will be out looking to arrest impaired drivers during extra DWI holiday patrols that start November 24th and go through December 31st.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety

According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety, 452 people have died on Minnesota roads in 2021, and there’s still more than a month to go this year.

According to the MDPS:

During the last five years (2016 – 2020), 26 people died in drunk driving-related crashes during the holiday DWI extra enforcement period.

One of every five deaths (21 percent) on Minnesota roads is drunk driving-related.

There were 397 drunk driving-related traffic deaths in Minnesota in the last five years, with 79 people killed in 2020 alone.

Alcohol-related crashes not only take lives, but they also change them forever. An average of 384 life-changing injuries (2016-2020) is caused by alcohol-related crashes each year.

Drugged driving incidents accounted for 6,269 incidents from 2011-2015 compared with 12,883 from 2016-2020. That’s a 106 percent increase over five years.

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