Through Tragedy, A Mother Hopes For 'Ashley’s Law'

It was six months before her wedding, and the 33 year-old Claremont assistant kindergarten teacher had just finished voting in the presidential primary elections despite snowy and icy conditions.

As Ashley McIntosh turned out of the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center on a green light on Feb. 12, 2008, her Toyota Corolla was struck by a Fairfax County police cruiser driven by Officer Amanda Perry. Perry was driving against a red light at the intersection of Route 1 and Boswell Avenue when she hit McIntosh, throwing her from her car and into the intersection. She died from her injuries the next day.

Witnesses of the accident told Colasanto the cruiser seemed to be traveling much faster than the speed limit and that the cruiser's lights were on, but the siren was not. Perry, then 22, later testified that she tried to flip the siren on, but that it wouldn't activate, Colasanto said. McIntosh's mother, Cindy Colasanto believes her daughter's death would have been prevented if the siren had been on.

For a long two years, she has embarked on a crusade to change Virginia law. Currently, Virginia code states that police officers are only required to use a siren when passing through a red light at an intersection "as may be reasonably necessary." Colasanto wants a new law, 'Ashley's Law,' to require officers to use their sirens and lights when passing through intersections and four-way stops at all times.

Virginia Sen. Linda "Toddy" Puller (D-36th) is sponsoring 'Ashley's Law' because she says she wants to "prevent further death and try to protect public safety," she said. Puller first introduced the bill in 2009. It has since been redrafted and will go to committee next month. If it is passed, Va. Gov. Bob McDonnell could sign it into law as soon as July 1, 2011.

"I'm hoping to help other people in Ashley's memory," Colasanto said. "So that any one else's loved one doesn't have to go through a senseless tragedy like this, because it was preventable."

Colasanto and Puller are slowly inching toward a victory. Earlier this month, the Virginia Crime Commission unanimously endorsed 'Ashley's Law.'

Colasanto was in Florida when she received a call from her daughter, Meredith Heller, telling her that McIntosh had been in an accident. She tried to fly home right away, but the inclement weather had closed all Washington, D.C. area airports. McIntosh's doctors told her over the phone that her daughter was brain dead and that they couldn't do anything to help her. When Colasanto was finally able to see McIntosh, Colasanto says "she was unconscious and unrecognizable."

"There's nothing good about losing a child," Colasanto said. "It changed all of our lives, she was very close to her sister and saw her all the time."

Perry was charged with reckless driving in criminal court in November 2008. She was later acquitted, but has since resigned from the police force.

"She never apologized," Colasanto said. "I've only seen her in the courtroom and we've never spoken. Obviously there are some feelings of the judgment that she used and didn't use."

Colasanto and Puller and hope that the new law will prevent further tragedy.

"I believe Ashley would still be alive if [Perry] had her siren on," Puller said.