Tom Hoopengarner was killed in an accident in November 2005 (WSBT Photo)
Story Created:
Jun 28, 2008 at 10:38 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jul 2, 2008 at 10:56 PM EDT
NEW PARIS -- A local family's loss sparked the need to take action. Now a new law goes into effect in Indiana to save lives in the future.
It requires passengers in a car crash to call for help and offer reasonable assistance to the other victims. It stems from a car accident that killed a Elkhart County teenager in 2005.
It's been more than two and a half years since a car crash took the life of 17-year-old Tom Hoopengarner.
"It was very shocking and I was in disbelief," said his father, Tom Hoopengarner.
Tom was driving south on 1200 West when police say he lost control and flipped into a pond. That's when the two passengers got out of the car and headed about a half mile up the road and stopped by a house. But Tom's father says those boys had no intentions of getting help for his son.
"They just asked to use the phone and take a shower," Hoopengarner said. "They didn't say nothing to the people."
Tom's body was trapped in the car for nearly 9 hours before a hunter stumbled upon the crash and called for help. The prosecutor said the two passengers who left the scene couldn't be charged because they didn't break any laws.
"As a mom to think two people left him to begin with is hard. But then for them to say we can't punish them that's really hard,” said his mother, Judy Hoopengarner.
The Hoopengarners turned their frustration into determination. They made it their mission to change Indiana law, collecting petitions and contacting their local legislators including State Representative Tim Neese.
"Getting someone to represent us was a little bit hard. But I can't say enough about Mr. Neese. He's a wonderful man," said Judy Hoopengarner.
Two years later, mission accomplished. On July 1 the new passenger law will go into effect. It will require passengers older than 15 to call for help at crash scenes.
"It gives me some closure that I did something in my son's honor to help everybody else because that's the kind of person my son was," said Judy Hoopengarner.
"[The law goes into effect] six days before his birthday, which is the 7th. So it's kind of like a birthday present in a sense," said Tom Hoopengarner.
If someone breaks the law they will face 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.
