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Chicago Families Remember DUI Victims

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Through song and candlelight, families who lost loved ones to drunk drivers remembered their lives and their legacies.

Chicago Families Remember DUI Victims

Charlotte Cormondy lost her father to a drunk driver in July 2009. He was on his way to work, rear ended by a drunk driver coming home from a party. She says she speaks to drunk driving offenders about the ripple affect of their actions. Cormondy says the holidays are the most dangerous time on the roads.

"So easily preventable. All we have to do during the holiday season is when we go out, and we have those drinks, let's just make sure we all designate a plan for ourselves before we go out," she said.

Anna Marie Caruso remembers her younger brother Frankie who was killed while sitting in the back seat of an Illinois State Trooper's squad car after surviving a separate DUI crash minutes later.

"What are the odds of being in one crash, and getting out alive without a scratch and then minutes later being killed by an intoxicated driver. What are the odds of both drivers being intoxicated?" said Caruso.

State police say last year during the week of Christmas, they arrested 323 motorists for driving under the influence.

For the second year, the Illinois Secretary of States Office, The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists and Mothers Against Drunk Driving sponsored the event to promote awareness and remember the lives lost by alcohol related crashes.

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