One-year jail term for impaired mother with five kids in her car

Nursing student, 35, ‘remorseful’ after causing three-vehicle crash

A drunk mother who had five children in her car when she sped through a red light and caused a three-vehicle crash was sent to jail for a year Monday.

In May, Salha Daud pleaded guilty to impaired driving, dangerous driving causing bodily harm and endangerment of a child.

Daud’s daughter, two sons and a friend’s two children were in her vehicle after she drank on June 25, 2013.

The kids were between four and 12 years old.

“This behaviour was reckless,” provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson said.

“She drove in a very dangerous manner. She has an alcohol addiction, but that addiction did not put her behind the wheel with children in her car.”

Johnson said the accident was a result of “speed, alcohol and a disregard for others.”

Daud, 35, a nursing student originally from Tanzania, will be on probation for two years after her release.

During that time, she is forbidden to drink alcohol and must undergo addictions counselling. She will also be banned from driving for 18 months.

Daud was driving 94 kilometres per hour in a 50 km/h zone on 82nd Street when the crash occurred.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Daud ran a red light at the 115th Avenue intersection around 7:30 p.m.

Daud struck a Toyota SUV with such force that it careened off the road, across a front lawn and through a fence. Daud’s vehicle then struck another car stopped at the red light on the other side of the intersection.

At the time, Daud’s bloodalcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. The day of the crash, she was on court-ordered probation that prohibited her from drinking.

The Toyota’s driver suffered a broken collarbone and one of her passengers had a broken pelvis. The only one hurt in Daud’s vehicle was a 12-year-old boy, who needed two stitches for a cut on his lip.

The total damage to the three vehicles was $25,000.

Earlier this month, defence lawyer Brandon Tralenberg told court that Daud has sought counselling for alcoholism.

“She is remorseful, she is sorry,” he said. rcormier@ edmontonjournal.com