Relative of Northville family killed by drunk driver fights to change industry standards

It has been one year since President Joe Biden signed a law that mandates automakers install alcohol detection systems in all new vehicles.

The law honors the five members of the Abbas family from Northville, who were struck and killed by a drunk driver back in 2019.
  
The sister of victim Rima Abbas -  Rana Abbas Taylor - has always been a fighter with her focus has been on women’s rights and social justice. Ever since the deadly crash, that focus changed,

The tragedy took place in January of 2019 when a drunk driver took the lives of Rima, her husband Issam, and their three kids Ali, Isabella and Giselle.

The family was on their way home when their vehicle was struck by a wrong-way driver on I-75 in Kentucky. The driver was drunk three times the legal limit.

As Rana learned more, the more determined she was, to bring about change.

"You are saying to me that there is technology available, that could have prevented my family from being killed, and we are making a choice not to put it into vehicles," she said.

Her work with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Congresswoman Debbie Dingle (D-Ann Arbor) brought about a new law named "The Honoring Abbas Family Legacy or the HALT Drunk Driving Act.

"We know that it is more difficult to change behaviors than it is to change industry standards," she said.

The Abbas family's vehicle crash in Kentucky.

The Abbas family's vehicle crash in Kentucky.

The law states all American-built cars must have alcohol detection systems in place within the next six years.

"The great thing about this technology, is its passive," she said. "That means you don’t know it’s there, unless it has to do the work that’s it’s meant to do, which pulls the car over and keep you safe."

According to the US Department of Transportation in 2020, about 11,654 people died in drunk driving crashes. It is a 14 percent increase from 2019.

This Tuesday Rana will be honored in Washington DC for her work to find a solution. We will also learn the latest data which shows alcohol-related crashes continue to rise.

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"Where are we at with traffic fatalities across America’s roads and in different states? What do we need to do to change this?" she said. "So the conversation is happening and it’s happening at many different levels. And that, I think, is the most promising thing."

Rana says she continues this work because her sister’s family was robbed of a legacy, but she knows this lifesaving law can change that. 

The Abbas family.

The Abbas family.


 

Crime and Public Safety