Tanner's Vibe

My name is Renee Lund and on March 26th, 2022, my handsome 19-year-old son Tanner was killed by a drunk driver at 2:30pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon driving to his grandmother’s house. He was my youngest son (of 4 children) and the “baby” of the family. Tanner never gave us any trouble growing up, and the irony of his death is that he was killed by what he hated most, drunk driving. He spoke fluent German and was in the process of planning his dream trip to Germany. Tanner was an avid music lover and was teaching himself to play guitar. He also loved skateboarding, traveling, concerts, snowboarding, hiking, and laughing. Tanner was quick witted, full of love and compassion towards everyone. He had the BEST laugh and was always dancing. Tanner gave the best hugs, and never left anyone without one. I miss those hugs so much. He was the best of the best! He was a vibe and I got to be his mom.
Over the last two years not only have I been grieving the loss of my son, but the circumstance of his death has also been equally difficult. Losing Tanner in such a violent, tragic, and preventable manner has taken its toll on me. As we began the legal process, we learned that the person who killed my son had been arrested for a DUI in December of 2021, with a BAC almost 3x the legal limit, yet he faced no real consequences for his actions. He pled guilty, paid a fine and served no jail time. Less than 3 months later he made the same decision to drink and drive. He was driving 30 miles over the speed limit when he smashed into my son killing him immediately. Again, his BAC was almost 3x the legal limit.
I had no idea what I would be up against dealing with the criminal justice system and the legislation surrounding drunk driving offenses in the State of Colorado. As you can imagine, they are lax to say the least and in seeking some sort of justice for Tanner, I was at the mercy of the court system. Because I knew the investigation would take a while, I was feeling very anxious, lost and alone. During this time, someone asked me if I had reached out to MADD for any guidance and to be honest, I didn’t even know if it was still an organization. Long story short, this was the beginning of my MADD journey, but it was also the time I met the two prosecuting district attorneys who were assigned Tanner’s case, and over the course of the next few months, watched them seek some sort of justice, for Tanner.
Little did I know that by connecting with MADD, I would start the journey of sharing Tanner’s story with the world. It is now my life’s mission to speak his name loudly and fight for tougher DUI laws and awareness. This is only just the beginning!