Crime & Safety
Rep. Says Fatal Crash Shows Laws Need Changing
A Hampton official wants to keep "threat[s] to the general public" like Darriean Hess off the streets after their first traffic infraction.
Hampton State Rep. Renny Cushing has told WMUR that he would like to see driving without a license made a misdemeanor offense instead of the traffic violation that it is, which he hopes will make New Hampshire roads safer in the wake of the Sept. 21 crash that killed two cyclists and injured two others.
Darriean Hess, the 19-year-old unlicensed Seabrook driver charged with causing that fatal crash on the Neil R. Underwood Memorial Bridge, was recently released on $50,000 bail.
Hess was stopped for speeding and driving without a license less than eight hours before she caused the fatal crash, which occurred in the same area as her traffic stop. She was issued citations for the violations and ordered not to drive, although the friend that drove car away from the scene — Cindy Sheppard, 48, of Hampton — allegedly gave Hess the keys to the vehicle and gave her a narcotic painkiller before allowing her to get back behind the wheel.
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The fatal crash occurred roughly half an hour after the keys were allegedly returned to Hess. Sheppard — an alleged drug dealer — and Hess' fiance Scott Martin, 19, of Seabrook, have also been charged in connection to the crash.
WMUR has reported that Cushing said Hess would've been arrested after her traffic stop if driving without a license was a misdemeanor offense. Cushing also reportedly said anyone who operates a car "in a reckless manner... should be arrested and face a misdemeanor charge" because that reckless operation shows the individual in question is a "threat to the general public."
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