A march will be staged in the central square of Chisinau on October 1 to demand to toughen up the punishments for persons who driver under the influence of alcohol or drugs and without a license and cause accidents. The event was announced by Marcela Paladi, the young woman who remained without legs after she was struck by a car on the Viaduct in Chisinau and by parents who lost children in road accidents, even in crosswalks, IPN reports.

The parents told about their tragedies at the places of the accident. “Nine months ago, I was a happy woman, wife and mother, up to the New Year’s Eve. In this place, they killed my dear Dan, a ten-year-old boy who was crossing the street by the pedestrian crossing. After the tragedy, my life was divided into “before” and “after”. I do not live. I simply survive only because my heart is beating,” said the grieving mother of the boy who was struck fatally in a crosswalk close to the Chisinau International Airport.

The first court sentenced the driver to three years in jail, with half of the sentence being a suspended one.

“On March 24, my life was divided into two parts – before and after – owing to a trolleybus driver who didn’t obey the speed limit and drove carelessly. My Năstica died as a result, in the cruelest way, on this crosswalk. I want such drivers to be severely punished so that when they intend to drive, they bear in mind that order on the streets and the safety of pedestrians depend on them,” said the mother of the 12-year-old girl who was hit mortally by a trolleybus in a crosswalk in Ciocana district.

The first court gave the woman who was driving the trolleybus a two-year suspended sentence as part of a four-year jail term.

“In February, our children Valerian and David, young athletes, cyclists, champions of Moldova, were riding their bikes legally on this street towards Stăuceni commune. One of them died, while the other one suffered serious injuries, but the court sentenced the speeding driver who didn’t have a driver’s license to only six years in an open prison,” related the father of Valerian Railean, the 12-year-old cyclist who died in the hospital.

“It happens so because the law in our country is too mild. A child died, while another one remained with scars for life,” said David’s mother.

Marcela Paladi told about the accident that left her without legs in a video made on the Viaduct. “The driver was speeding and ran straight into me, leaving me in a wheelchair for life. A lot of nights full of tears and pain followed. I underwent surgeries and rehabilitation procedures that lasted for months and I’m sure that many other painful months will follow. The court gave the driver two years in an open jail,” said the young woman.

“Come to demand that the government toughen up the laws for persons who drive drug- and alcohol-impaired and without a driver’s license, who traumatize and kill our children. Dear people, mothers, fathers, grandparents, take your children and join us in the Great National Assembly Square on October 1, at 10am,” said the organizers of the march.