STAND for Hannah: Thorne family looks to curb reckless driving

Friends and family of alleged street racing victim Hannah Thorne are standing up against dangerous driving with a new project they hope will create lasting change in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

​Thorne, 18, was in a car driven by her 81-year-old grandmother when it collided head-on with a pickup on a stretch of highway known as the New Harbour Barrens.

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In August, Brian Robert King and Steven Ryan Mercer were arrested and charged with street racing causing death.

Dwayne Legge, a relative of Hannah Thorne, said STAND (Standing Together Against Negligent Driving) for Hannah will look to educate the public on the dangers of reckless driving and work to drive legislative change.

"We'd like to see an amendment to the Highway Traffic Act to include a policy which would immediately suspend a driver's licence when evidence supports that there is negligence at play in an accident," he said.

Legge said it's been a difficult summer since Thorne's death.

"She had just graduated high school and she was getting ready to start her future." he said.

"With everything being in the news now and the court cases, it makes it difficult for the family but we're determined to drive some change now."

Legge said STAND met with Service NL this week and that early discussions were promising. 

"Government has committed to do a jurisdictional scan to see what other provinces are doing, keep us in the loop, bring our recommendations forward and work with us to make these changes," he said.

In the week since the STAND group was formed on Facebook over 2,200 people have joined, and Legge said he's encouraged for the future. 

"We are committed to moving this forward, raising awareness and trying to drive change."