Columnist Susan Snyder: Memories illuminated by light

Friday, April 15, 2005 | 5:14 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

April 16 - 17, 2005

For Dawn Blinder and her 4-year-old son, healing will flutter on butterflies' wings.

Blinder and her son, Steven, will be among those at Sunset Park who, at 2 p.m. today, will release butterflies during the Nathan Adelson Hospice Foundation's Celebration of Life ceremony.

Blinder hopes it will help her small son cope with the death of his sister, Debbie. The 7-year-old child died after a September crash in which a woman driving an SUV ran a stop sign at Hualapai Way and Desert Inn Drive and struck the Blinders' car.

On April 7, Blinder flipped the switch on a brand-new traffic light at the busy Summerlin intersection where her daughter was fatally injured. Public outcry over Debbie's death prompted officials to install the light sooner than planned.

"It was an emotional day," Blinder said.

She has a lot of those. I caught up with Blinder on Thursday as she prepared to testify in favor of a Nevada Senate bill that would allow police to ticket red-light runners based on footage captured by traffic-light cameras. Once identified, the drivers would face the same penalties as those physically caught in the act.

The Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee passed the bill.

Blinder had taken time off from her job teaching fourth grade and patiently waited four hours to testify from a committee room in Las Vegas' Grant Sawyer State Office Building. Senators meeting in Carson City heard her comments via video link.

Her face is familiar to Nevada legislators. Last month she testified on behalf of an Assembly bill that imposes stiffer penalties on those who kill others with their cars.

Similar to the motorist who lost control of her SUV and killed four people standing at a bus stop recently, the driver of the car that killed Debbie Blinder faced only a misdemeanor traffic charge.

"It's what you do after a tragedy that gives it meaning," Blinder said, quoting the late actor Christopher Reeve. "My goal through all of this is to work to make the streets safer and bring awareness to driver behavior."

The red-light camera bill is only an extension of other measures, she said. The traffic light installed in the wake of her daughter's death is a start, but it isn't the whole solution. People need to face consequences.

"Traffic lights are only as good as the people who follow them," Blinder said. "Just because no one is watching, and no police officer is there, (running the red) is still an offense.

"People behave differently when they know they are being watched," she added. "And there are consequences for our actions. We teach our children that way. Why is it good enough for children and not for adults?"

The questions linger, as does the pain.

"Most nights I cry myself to sleep," Blinder said. "Nights are the hardest. It's the time when everyone's in bed and everyone's safe. And for us, it's not the same."

Steven is their blessing, Blinder said. He is OK but needs a tangible way to connect with the loss of his sister -- one that doesn't hurt. So today they will send a butterfly to heaven.

"We'll say something to the butterfly together," Blinder said, "and have the butterfly say it to Debbie."