Police say her death was caused by a drunk driver. Here’s how law enforcement will honor Kennewick mother

It’s par for the course for law enforcement agencies to step up DUI patrols in the weeks leading up to summer holidays such as Labor Day.

For Mid-Columbia agencies, this year’s increase has special meaning, with two weeks of DUI emphasis patrols being dedicated to Tyresa Monaghan, the Kennewick mother who was killed Aug. 14 by an allegedly drunk driver in Oregon.

“We want to remind people that we have victims here locally and to make sure you’re drinking responsibly,” said Jen Dorsett, manager of the Target Zero campaign for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Monaghan, 49, was working as a traffic flagger on a large repaving project on Highway 11 near Athena. She had just stopped a car when a Chrysler minivan drove through the stopped traffic.

The minivan driver, 76-year-old Leman Bledsoe of Milton-Freewater, crashed into the stopped car, then hit and killed Monaghan before driving a mile through the construction site.

Bledsoe is facing a manslaughter charge along with charges for driving drunk, reckless driving and endangering other drivers.

Benton and Franklin County law enforcement agencies hope the tragedy will convince others not get behind the wheel drunk.

Target Zero emphasizes the need of enforcement and education to decrease DUIs. Officers and deputies on both sides of the Columbia River will focus on areas where people are more likely to be driving drunk.

Ten people in Benton and Franklin counties have died in alcohol-related crashes this year, one more than all of 2017. In 2016-17, 24 people died and 46 were hospitalized because of impaired driving in the two counties.

The number of crashes, especially alcohol-related, tend to go up in the summer, Dorsett said.

Though DUI arrests are in decline across the state, Dorsett said that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer drunk drivers on the road in the Mid-Columbia. The area’s rising population combined with under staffing in law enforcement agencies make it more difficult to police drunk drivers.

“These tragedies are completely preventable,” said Darrin Grondel, director of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. “As a community, we can end DUI-related deaths. We are asking for help.

“If you are in a position to prevent someone else from driving impaired, please be bold. Offer them a a ride or give them a safe place to sober up.”

The commission encourages people to make a plan before they go out drinking.

That message was echoed by the Oregon Department of Transportation, which was in charge of the Highway 11 project. The contractor Monaghan was working for, Shamrock Paving, organized a Go Fund Me campaign.

As of Saturday, they’ve raised $4,865 of their $50,000 goal.