“We just had her 30th birthday the other day. We go out, decorate and celebrate at her gravesite,” said Trish Wehling, who lost her daughter 12 years ago to an impaired driver. “That’s what I have left of my daughter.”

Wehling and her family gather at her daughter Jordan’s gravesite every year on her birthday because they can no longer celebrate it together. On Dec. 28, 2013, Jordan got into a car with an impaired driver. The driver overcorrected after a semi merged into their lane, causing the vehicle to flip. The driver was supposed to be Jordan’s sober ride — but he wasn’t. 

The driver survived, but Jordan did not. 

“That just became the most unspeakable day. I can’t get anybody to understand it just by talking about it. It’s something you’d have to live through. But I’m hoping that by speaking out, other people don’t have to live that truth,” Wehling said. “It had devastating effects on not just our family but her entire friend group.”

Wehling said she speaks out now because she doesn’t want anyone else to lose someone to impaired driving, though advocating didn’t come easy. It took years for her family to feel comfortable talking with others about what happened. Now Wehling works with Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to share the deadly consequences of impaired driving.

Unfortunately, Jordan’s story is too common. In 2024:

• Nearly 150 Minnesotans died in crashes related to alcohol.
• Minnesota law enforcement made almost DWI 27,000 arrests. 

New Year’s Eve creates an added element of risk and danger. Drivers who fail to plan ahead bring more risk to the roads and everyone on them.

“Every story of a child lost to an impaired driver is too many, every family broken is too much. Driving should not kill people. Trish Wehling’s daughter didn’t need to die. Please drivers, be sober, plan ahead.” said Mike Hanson, director of our Office of Traffic Safety. “If we all just planned a sober ride and stuck to that plan, we would have so many more families whole this year.”

Extra law enforcement is out on Minnesota roads this holiday season, ready to stop dangerous driving. But the best way to prevent impaired driving is simply not to drive impaired.

For Wehling, the message is personal.

“I just want to make her life mean something,” Wehling said.

Honor Jordan by always planning a sober ride and committing to being a sober driver for someone else. It will save lives.