Victims Father wants zero tolerance

[Icbones]

Did anyone see the advertisement in this Saturdays Toronto Star by the father of a kid who died while driving with his friends in Muskoka? Tim Mulcahy has started a petition at www.tylermulcahy.com pleading to premier McGinty to create more laws against drinking and driving. IMO we already have enough restrictive and harsh penalties related to drinking and driving offences.

Mulcahy sent a letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty last week with a picture of Tyler beside the caption, this is it below.

Dear Mr. McGuinty, my son is dead.

It's not your fault but you can make a difference and reduce future suffering.

Here's how

The current driving laws for persons up the the age of 21 need to be changed to reflect zero tolerance for DRINKING and SPEEDING- the two major causes of fatal and life threatening car accidents. It is without a doubt that he overwhelming majority of parents and adults would support this change. Changing habits at this age will have an impact on drivers over the course of their lifetime. Please act immediately as many of us live in fear due to the current driving laws.

Gratefully yours,

Tim Mulcahy



Unfortunately when a tragic event occurs and a friend, relative or survivor of the incident starts talking to the press they seem to go from grieving to full blown revenge mode and want to wreck havoc on everyone that owns or uses whatever device or product that was involved in the tragic event that lead to the loss of the loved ones life.

I don't mean to sound insensitive to the families loss, but I'm starting to get tragic loss fatigue syndrome. I am truly tired of the media sensationalizing events just to increase circulation and the politicians jumping on the graves of victims to increase their popularity.

I've read a few of the comments to the Stars story (comments are now closed) and they disagree with more rules, and suggest better education. I can only hope that the provincial government does not go on a witch hunt with harsher speeding penalties or the implementation of more RIDE stops all year round. I think enough people are being financially destroyed by the fines now.

[eastcoast_gsx]

What do these people want???

Bevelry Fougere-O'Brien
Stoney Creek Ontario, Canada
Beverly Fougere-O'Brien, Age 46 Stoney Creek Ontario, Canada I too have lost my only son Michael Sean O'Brien.He was only 16yrs.He died as a result of binge drinking, he tried to walk home but fell face first into a creek next to our home and drowned in 2ft of dirty creek water.We searched for two days before the police found him. The drinking laws definitely need to be changed! I am involved with Madd Canada I had painstakeingly made a multi-media video with them called "Friday Night"that went to high schools across Canada during the 2007-08 school year. I also spoke at as many high school assemblies as I could possibly do where this video was presented and spoke further to the kids about their choices and how careful they must be. I am soo sorry for the terrible pain your family is suffering at literally the hands of alcohol. Education and information is how we are going to change the future for our kids! They need to see the REAL PICTURE about the use and abuse of alcohol not the glamour depicted in the media. 3yrs since Mike left me so suddenly and I miss him more everyday! What a loss! Beverly (Added on 9/4/2008 4:57:09 PM)
(Added on 9/6/2008 9:03:27 PM)

[dorfer_09]

What do these people want???

Funny thing about this one is he is saying the laws need to be changed. His son was only 16, so he broke the law by drinking in the first place!

[chinto]

What do these people want???

probably closure.

[Wingboy]

Anything that will reduce the carnage caused by drinking and driving is worth it to me.I believe that Australia has even harsher laws than ours,and it has made a difference in related deaths.
There are going to be a bunch of posts saying that 80 yr olds driving 70kmh on the 401 are just as dangerous,blah blah blah.But the fact remains.If ya drink...don't drive! Sometimes we need our elected officials to protect us from ourselves.

[01cbr]

What do these people want???

They want a law against teens consuming alcohol.....oh wait????

A lot of people get lost in the pain of losing someone close and just want someone to blame.....even if they have no right to.


As a kid I rode snowmobiles all winter. I came across a lot of people had loved ones die in snowmobile accidents who somehow almost blamed me because i rode a snowmobile also.....even though these accidents happened before I was born. I really didnt understand their logic but they sure seemed to.

[eastcoast_gsx]

So he admits that he is part of the blame.. now the interest groups have picked up on the family and are using them for their own little game?

If there is any blame to ascribe, the grieving father aims it directly at himself: Giving in to his son's repeated pleas for the fast, high-powered car; not calling him that day as he'd planned from his vacation in Sardinia; not being the voice of reason that would have reminded Tyler -- as he always did -- not to drink and drive. Not to speed.

They had exchanged text messages just a few days before. "I was going to call him that day about 3 p.m.," he says, his eyes so red and glassy. "I didn't and I don't know why I didn't. That could have altered things ..."

Tyler's godfather died in 1992 in an alcohol-related accident and so the young man knew well the dangers of drinking and driving. What went wrong that day? His father will never understand.

And then there is the Audi. Tyler may have come from an affluent family and attended Upper Canada College, but his dad insists he was not the kind of kid to ask for anything. So when he pushed for the fast car, Mulcahy initially resisted but finally weakened.

"I gave in to Tyler. I should have been more of a dad," he admits with a heavy sigh. "It might not have occurred if I hadn't bought that car."

[eastcoast_gsx]

Sometimes we need our elected officials to protect us from ourselves.

You may... I don't. I will accept responsiblity for that myself.

I am sick and tired of stupid law stacking because people are ****ing idiots...

The laws are there, the education is out there, this family is going to be used to the fullest extent.

[eastcoast_gsx]

probably closure.

And you think some politician and law will bring it to them?

[eastcoast_gsx]

So now a law will take the place of his stupidity and the familes responsibility in the matter...

How naive are people?

But if his proposed law had been in place, he believes Tyler would not have been behind any wheel that day and those three lost boys would still be alive.

It is a heavy burden to know your son is responsible for the deaths of others, but Mulcahy says the parents of both Mintz and Totonchian have said they bear no ill feelings.

"Tyler was just the type of kid that everyone loved," he smiles. "It's hard to be mad at him. I could never get mad at him."

And now he feels it is his son who is giving him the strength for this campaign. Supporters are asked to sign his petition to McGuinty at www.tylermulcahy.com/law-change.asp. As of late yesterday, there were almost 2,000 signatures.

"I've been a door-to-door salesman for 25 years. I don't give up," Mulcahy vows, his eyes drifting to the son he aches to hold one more time. "We're going to push this and we're not going to stop until the change is made."

[chinto]

And you think some politician and law will bring it to them?

not at all. But I am guessing that any parent that has to bury a child will grasp at anything that THEY THINK will give them closure.

[mihnea]

that's the North American spirit... 'me, at fault?! Never!'

[BLUE_KAWI]

Here's an idea. Why don't you teach your children yourself? I know that concept doesn't work in this day and age. Parents today don't seem to care what they're children do untill its too late.

[eastcoast_gsx]

I don't give a ****... these signers are bloody idiots... "STOP the Drinking and Driving dead before any more innocent lives are lost. "

Who the **** is innocent? The kid for drinking 30+ drinks and getting in his nice Audi?

[Jayv]

You may... I don't. I will accept responsiblity for that myself.

I am sick and tired of stupid law stacking because people are ****ing idiots...

The laws are there, the education is out there, this family is going to be used to the fullest extent.

His son was 20 years old, and yet the Father wants to raise the age requirement to 21.

My guess is that even at 21 years old his Son would have made the same decision to D and D.

[DucDic]

start holding more parents responsible to a certain degree for their kids actions...lol...that will smarten up a lot of parents...although as a kid i was a holy terror and so i would just be sealing my own coffin as my daughter shows far too many signs of my youth in her...hahaha...but my daughter listens to me and knows when it's something serious...i meet too many parents whose kids rule the roost, drives me nuts...i find it's the level of education among people that surprises, most people don't have a clue...i'll be driving with one of my friends, they'll do something that is not legal, i'll remind them, and they didn't have a clue they couldn't do that...it's not that i don't do half the stuff they do, i'm at least aware that i shouldn't be doing it...lol...too many kids get their license and don't feel that driving is a priviledge...it sucks to lose a friend, but when they kill someone else because of their stupidity...

[skylinegtr34]

Ya, not to be insensitive or anything. The parents are always blaming either the law is not good enough, or the media etc.. Always asking for more laws to enforce it (eg. for violent video game causing teens to be violent).

They know who to blame, it's themselves. It's them who don't have good communication with their kids. And the kids are usually out of control. When something goes wrong, they want to blame something or someone.

All the parents has to do is, "you get no car until you can afford your own". Problem solved. No car, no booze, no accident. I think the kid was driving dad's Audi.

[roadtoruin]

No amount of laws and zero tolerance policies are going to change the fact that underage kids are going to drink, and some are going to drive, and some are going to die. It's not a god damn pandemic, **** happens. Chalk another up to Darwin.

[mxs]

What do these people want???

More involved parents .... not sure what else would help here.

[82Seca750]

Mr. Mulcahy is playing the part of the irrational angry victim to a tee.

And....he's also showing lots of folks, just how mind-blowing his wealth is.....that newpaper add was likely in the $40,000 range

But.....if the shoe was on the other foot......say, his son survived the crash, but was charged with multiple counts of DUI causing death and faced decades behind bars upon conviction

Would Mr. Mulcahy then play the part of the protective sympathetic father with gozillions blown to hire the most incredible legal defence team in the country?

It's hard to be sensitive to this man's grief when he's acting so incredibly irrational.