By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Jarryn Ng, whose uncle, Jeremy Ng, died in a drunken-
driving accident, watches leis today in the
Capitol's reflecting pool.

---

Victim’s sister
recalls horror of
deadly crash

Ten years ago today,
a drunken driver caused a
wreck that killed five

By Craig Gima
Star-Bulletin

Darlene Braun still remembers the call in the middle of the night informing her that her younger brother, 18-year-old Jeremy Ng, was dead.

"Now every time I still get calls late at night, it's kind of like you're on edge," she said.

Ng was a passenger in a white Trans Am driven by Bucky Lake that crashed head-on into a rented minivan on Kalanianaole Highway near Makapuu.

Five people died in that wreck, one of the worst drunken-driving accidents in Hawaii history. It happened 10 years ago today.

This morning at the state Capitol, Braun and others marked the anniversary with a ceremony and a vow to continue the fight to reduce the number of drunken-driving accidents in Hawaii.

"I don't really want to be here, but I think it's something that should be done," she said. "It's just hard remembering."

The group Mothers Against Drunk Driving organized today's ceremony. "It just changed the awareness of the entire state about drunk driving," Theresa Paulette, MADD's board president, said of the wreck. "It was a turning point."

Paulette said 87 people died in drunken-driving-related accidents in Hawaii in 1988.

Last year, 58 people were killed in such accidents, an all-time low here. Paulette credits tougher laws and greater awareness and said the new goal is to reduce the toll further.

Honolulu Prosecutor Peter Carlisle said more should be done at the Legislature to toughen drunken-driving laws.

Said Braun: "I just want people to remember how many lives it affects -- not only the people that were killed and their families and Bucky Lake's family. It just affects everybody."