A Lisbon woman who founded a nonprofit safety organization 20 years ago after her teenage son was killed by a tired truck driver was honored at the White House on Tuesday as a 2014 Transportation Champion of Change.

Daphne Izer founded Parents Against Tired Truckers and, marking the organization’s 20th anniversary, Izer was recognized Tuesday for her tireless efforts to improve highway safety. The 2014 White House Champions of Change honored 11 champions in total who have demonstrated exemplary leadership to ensure that transportation facilities, services and jobs help individuals and their communities connect to 21st century opportunities.

“Daphne’s work to create awareness of truck driver fatigue and seek legislative and regulatory changes to reduce fatigue-related truck crashes has undoubtedly saved lives and prevented debilitating injuries,” said John Lannen, executive director of the Truck Safety Coalition. “Her courage after losing Jeff and his friends, and her strength and passionate advocacy for change over the last 20 years is what makes Daphne a great safety leader.”

With her husband, Steve, Izer founded PATT after their 17-year-old son, Jeff, was killed in a preventable truck crash by a fatigued truck driver. The crash killed three other teenagers and seriously injured one more. Since then, Izer has worked to advance truck safety to help prevent other families from suffering a similar, devastating loss.

PATT has focused its efforts on reducing truck driver fatigue and seeking a requirement for the use of Electronic Logging Devices to accurately record truck driver hours behind the wheel to reduce the falsification of driving logs. PATT took a step toward realizing this goal on July 6, 2012, after President Barack Obama signed into law the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, which included a mandate for rulemaking for requiring ELDs in commercial trucks.

“I was grateful for the inclusion of ELDs in MAP-21, and the final rule for ELDs cannot happen soon enough,” said Izer. “The ELD rule will address a problem that occurs far too often in certain segments of the industry — the falsification of log books tracking hours worked. While this is a significant milestone for safety, unfortunately, for every safety rule or legislation that is passed, there are numerous proposals for exemptions to existing safety regulations and attempts to reduce their effectiveness.”

For example, Izer said, “right now, as we’re taking a step forward to reduce truck driver fatigue with ELDs, members of Congress are considering proposals to roll back safety benefits of the new hours of service (HOS) rule by removing the restart provision. We should not allow any step backward in safety, and urge the White House Administration and DOT to vigorously defend its HOS rule.”

Since its beginning in 1994, PATT has transformed from the small Maine grassroots group created around the Izers’ kitchen table into a nationally recognized organization. In 2002, PATT combined efforts with Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways and formed the Truck Safety Coalition to reach a wider audience and maintain a presence in Washington, D.C.

Brunswick police

Arrests

Tiffanie Thompson, 29, of Brunswick, was arrested at 11:30 a.m. May 8 at the Brunswick Police Station after turning herself in. She was wanted on a warrant for failing to appear in West Bath District Court.

Daniel H. Sherwood, 31, of Brunswick, was arrested at 9:41 p.m. May 8 at Karen Lane on a warrant for failing to appear in West Bath District Court.

Joseph Harrison, 28, of Topsham was arrested at 3:16 a.m. May 9 on a warrant for probation revocation out of Wiscasset Superior Court after police responded to a disturbance on Cumberland Street.

Melyssa Deham, 22, of Brunswick was arrested at 1:36 a.m. May 10 and charged with operating under the influence after police responded to a report of a motor vehicle accident outside Joshua’s Restaurant and Tavern on Maine Street.

A verbal altercation outside of a party at 9 Dunning St. on May 10 led to the arrests of two Brunswick women, according to police. Megan Anne McKenney, 30, and Jessica Bennett, 31, were both charged with disorderly conduct–loud unreasonable noise following a verbal altercation at around 10:45 p.m. Police were responding to the third noise complaint in three hours at that address, according to Brunswick Police Sgt. Russ Wrede.

Edward L. Lamarre, 47, of Brunswick was arrested after police responded to a domestic disturbance on Jordan Avenue at 10:13 a.m. May 11. Lamarre was charged with violating a condition of his release after police found that he had allegedly been drinking.

Summonses

Brian J. Mullen, 20, of Winchester, Mass., was summonsed at around 11:38 p.m. May 10 at Garrison Street for being a minor in possession of liquor.

Dylan Walton, 20, of Brunswick, was summonsed at around 6 p.m. May 11 on Stanwood Street for attaching false plates.