Scott Leister
Crash Anniversary: August 17, 2008
Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Scott Leister, a 21-year old college student from Castro Valley, was killed August 17, 2008 in a fiery crash on the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge when the Mercedes in which he was a rear-seat passenger was struck from behind by a car going over 100 mph, being driven by a 22-year old with blood alcohol over twice the legal limit. The 2:20am crash sent both cars careening across all lanes of traffic, hitting guardrails on both sides of the bridge, engulfing the other car in flames, and shutting down the bridge's timing lights. Scott was killed instantly.
MADD contacted Scott's family within days of the crash and provided much-needed guidance and support in coping with their gut-wrenching grief while, at the same time, navigating their way through the long court process to prosecute the drunk driver. MADD walked beside the family every step of the way as the legal case worked its way from court to court and helped them to advocate for a strong sentence, eventually obtaining a sentence of 10 years in State prison.
Scott's family has said they could not have done it without MADD, so the "Scott Leister Family & Friends” team plans to Walk Like MADD to help Mothers Against Drunk Driving in their efforts to prevent such tragedies from striking countless other families. Here is a message directly from Scott's family:
Our 21-year old son, Scott Leister, had been living his dream, working towards earning his medical degree to provide international humanitarian aid. His dream was thwarted when he was killed in a fiery crash on the San Francisco Bay Bridge by a young man with a blood alcohol level over twice the legal limit.
MADD walked beside our family every step of the way as we navigated the justice system and helped us to advocate for a strong sentence, eventually obtaining a sentence of over 10 years in prison.
Our family could not have done it without MADD, so the "Scott Leister Family & Friends” team participates each year in “Walk Like MADD” to help Mothers Against Drunk Driving in their mission to prevent drunk or drugged driving tragedies from striking countless other families.
Always Scott’s parents,
Carol and Chris Leister