By Dan Aceto
Staff Writer

Although The Great Pumpkin Road Race has been held annually since 1978, the event has held a special place in Pat LaNigra’s heart for the last five years.

Since 2005, the race has been held in honor of LaNigra’s daughter, Tina Turcotte, who was killed that year in an automobile accident on I-95 involving a trucker operating under a suspended license.

 The driver of the truck, Scott Hewitt, had a reported 63 prior convictions on his record, in addition to having his license suspended 23 times. Although he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Hewitt only served two and one-half-years and was released on probation. His license was also permanently revoked.
Turcotte, a Scarborough resident, was 40 years old at the time of the accident.

After the accident, LaNigra, also of Scarborough, was approached by legislators who wanted to draft what now is known as Tina’s Law. The law increased the maximum penalty for drivers found to be habitual offenders, or those with 10 or more moving violations within a five-year period on their record, or three major convictions within a five-year period.

If habitual offenders are found to be operating after suspension they now face a minimum two-year prison sentence. If they are found to be operating under the influence, the same charge is elevated to five years in prison. If they are involved in the death of another individual the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison.

The law was enacted in 2006, and LaNigra has been a major advocate ever since.

Since Turcotte’s death, the race has given charitable donations in her name toward scholarships at Husson College and South Portland High School, where Turcotte went to school. This year half of all proceeds will go toward the Tina M. Turcotte Memorial Scholarship Fund at South Portland High School as well as the American Lung Association’s TREK Across Maine. LaNigra said she hopes to raise approximately $4,000 at the race so she may award four students $500 scholarships.

LaNigra said Turcotte, who was an accounting major, would have wanted students to spend scholarship money on books because of her own experiences with the often costly expenses of college education. 

Although the weather has often been unpredictable in past races with temperatures ranging from the mid-70s to snowflakes, turnout for the Great Pumpkin Road Race has increased every year, much like the support Tina’s Law has received, LaNigra said.

“A lot of people have told me (Tina’s Law) was the best thing ever. I can’t tell you how many letters I’ve gotten in support since it passed,” LaNigra said. When the law was brought to Legislature, LaNigra said it was backed 100 percent.

In an e-mail to LaNigra, Sen. Bill Diamond (D-Windham) said it was “an honor to work on the law” and that he sincerely believed it had helped save many lives. 

Before Tina’s Law passed, LaNigra said penalties for repeat offenders were minor and would often result in a “slap on the wrist,” leading many drivers to enter their motor vehicles time and time again even under suspension.

“The law is there, as long as it is enforced,” LaNigra said.

LaNigra said she had originally hoped for stricter penalties surrounding the law and was disappointed to see the driver involved in Turcotte’s death serve two and one- half years of a 10-year sentence because of a plea bargain he entered as part of his guilty plea.

“There is a system of law,” LaNigra said, “people are always told by lawyers to plead not guilty, even if they are guilty, so they can enter into a plea bargain.”

Two propositions LaNigra suggested to supplement the law were that offenders wear bracelets at all times to track their location, as well as an alarm system that would notify authorities when violators entered a motor vehicle, but she was told that would be too costly.

“If they ever lost a child, they would be fighting hard for something that could have been prevented had that person not been on the road,” LaNigra said.

Staff Writer Dan Aceto can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237.