Mother urges safe holiday driving after son’s tragic death

A St. Catharines mother is speaking out today with a message for people celebrating Christmas this year.

She hopes her message will prevent others from experiencing the same tragedy her family is facing.

This goes back to a story we covered around this time last year, just days before Christmas.

That’s when Cole Hodge of St. Catharines was killed in a car crash.  Cole Hodge had just turned 22 and loved his mom’s big bernadoodle dog.

His mother said, “He loved Max. He loved animals. They were his favourite thing. He could get along with a baboon I think. chuckle.”

And he’d just completed a mechanical techniques program at Niagara College.

Cole was coming home with two friends early in the morning of December 18th last year, when he was killed in a car crash blamed on drinking and driving.

“He made a split decision to get into the back seat of a car that he should not have gotten into and it cost him his life,” Cole’s mother said.

Cole was in a car that came straight down this street early in the morning. when the street ended the car jumped the curb and slammed into a tree.”

Another passenger and the driver survived. Cole’s mother has placed a Christmas tree at the site for this holiday season.

She says the family is devastated.  His mother Aletha says things will never be the same for the family.

“I feel like there’s a glue that’s missing and is not holding us together any more,” Aletha said.

But she doesn’t want Cole’s story to end there.  Instead, she wants to get out a simple message at this time of year.

“The message that I want to share is the one that Cole needed to hear that night was, plan your safe ride home. commit to taking your cab, commit to taking an Uber, know how you’re getting home before you leave the house, before you go drinking, and stick with that plan,” his mother said.

The alcohol and gaming commission temporarily suspended the liquor license of the Boston Pizza on Ontario Street where Cole and his friends were drinking that night, saying the customers were served alcohol even though they were showing signs of intoxication.

The driver was charged with impaired driving causing death and that case is pending

And Cole’s mother wants to keep this tragedy from happening to other families.