RELATED:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The simple experience of driving is very different for Vicki Denniss following the death of her daughter Jess McLennan almost four months ago.
The 23-year-old Rutherglen woman was on her way to work as a critical care nurse when her car collided head-on with another vehicle on Rutherglen-Springhurst Road – she died three days later in hospital.
Early police reports suggested the other driver, who survived, drifted onto the wrong side of the road.
The Major Collision Investigation Unit was continuing to look into the crash, but no charges have been laid yet.
Ms Denniss has been left with a more cautious attitude and a stronger view of breaking road rules, from distracted motorists drifting onto the wrong side of the road to those who choose to put others at risk after taking drugs.
“Anyone who does anything wrong really annoys me,” she said.
“You think of everyone else’s kids now.”
Having a police officer as a father meant Ms Dennis was taught about the dangers of driving and passed the message onto her own kids.
But even as a safe driver, the last person anyone thought would be involved in a crash, Jess became a victim.
“I never thought this would be my life, I thought I’d have Jess forever,” Ms Denniss said.
“When I’ve talked to young drivers, their fear’s not that they’re going to hurt someone, it’s that they’re going to lose their licence.”
She said she would like to see drivers exposed to the horrors of fatal crashes before they were granted a licence and was considering speaking to schools in the area to share her story.
Jess was an organ donor, like many other young drivers killed on the road.
Ms Denniss joined an online group with others who lost a child and said they had similar ideas of what needs to happen: drivers to take responsibility for preventing a fatal crash, and courts to punish anyone who causes a loss of life with jail time.
“Loved ones should be able to leave the home during the day and come home at night,” she said.
Loved ones should be able to leave the home during the day and come home at night.
- Vicki Dennis