‘She had a lot of life to live:’ Daughter calls to ban ‘drowsy driving’ after mom dies in crash
SPENCER CO., Ind. (WFIE/Gray News) - A woman is calling to change an Indiana state law after her mother died in a car accident a little over a year ago.
Stacey Lawalin says her mother Debra Scherer died in a head-on collision on State Route 66 in September 2023.
At the time, she says Scherer was on the way to a meeting for Habitat for Humanity, where she served as president.
“She was 68 and healthy,” says Lawalin. “She had a lot of life to live yet.”
Lawalin tells us that according to a Spencer County Sheriff’s Office investigation, a driver fell asleep and drifted into oncoming traffic, striking Scherer’s vehicle.
Scherer passed away later that night.
“It wasn’t like she’d been sick, had cancer, or had a heart attack and died unexpectedly. Somebody stole her from us,” Lawalin explains.
And it would be months before Lawalin says they would learn Indiana law only allows for prosecution of a driver if what they did involved speeding or passing.
In the case of her mother’s accident, she says the drowsy driver wasn’t doing either. In the end, she says they were only fined $11.50.
“It seems that it should be somewhere there that people are held accountable for their actions,” she says.
That’s why Lawalin is calling for “Deb’s Law,” to amend current statutes for reckless or impaired driving to include drowsy driving.
“There’s a difference between driving tired and driving so tired that you’re running people off the road,” Lawalin said.
A petition she’s started already has a couple hundred signatures, but she says she’s hopeful her goal of 500 will catch the attention of legislators to sponsor an amendment in the Statehouse.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, currently only two states, New Jersey and Arkansas, have laws that address drowsy driving.
That same agency estimates that as many as 20% of annual traffic deaths are attributable to driver drowsiness.
Lawalin says her mother died only two days before her 50th wedding anniversary.
She says the day the family buried her was the same day they had a party planned to celebrate. Instead, they’re working to honor her in a different way.
“It’ll never bring her back, but just to give us some kind of closure something good can come out of it,” Lawalin says. “And, save another family from going through what we went through.”
You can sign Lawalin’s petition online by clicking here.
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