Start and Stop: The Story of Brett Badin

Rhona Bosin

15 hours ago

4 min read

Start.

An individual on the autism spectrum, Brett Badin entered young adulthood with full support. He had a federal government job, disability supports, a small condo near the Metro, and a loving family. Active, earnest, and kind, Brett liked watching sports, dancing, parties, and spending time with friends.

Stop.

Brett regularly attended monthly group dinners with other supported individuals and their job coaches. On January 16 of 2020, he got off the bus to attend the dinner at IHoP on Rockville Pike. He began crossing the busy road but never made it to the dinner. He almost reached the other side of the road. A car, a collision, and a young adult life was over in an instant.

His mother, Mindy Badin, wears a braided gold necklace with a heart-shaped locket showing Brett’s picture. A very busy suburban mom, she was not involved in traffic advocacy before the collision. Now, Mindy is a highly active member of the Maryland Coalition for Roadway Safety (also known as SafeRoadsMD), regularly testifying before legislators in Annapolis and Montgomery County. She tells her family’s story because “we all need to take responsibility for keeping everyone safe on the road. I want to keep other families from having this happen to them,” she said. “We need protection for cyclists and pedestrians.”

The Badin family lives in Olney. Brett was their firstborn; followed by daughters Holly and Jill. Born in July 1987, early on Brett showed strength in remembering and understanding letters and numbers, anything concrete. He was spelling words and doing simple arithmatic by his second birthday. Even with these strengths his parents had noticed inconsistencies.He lagged in some developmental milestones; his speech and motor skills were delayed. Because of these delays Brett spent his school years in classes for children with learning disabilities. He wowed his first teachers with his keen memory. For example, as early as grade two he could recite the alphabet backward, and he knew the birthdays of everyone in his class. At age seven, Brett received a diagnosis of autism.

Despite social difficulties in middle school, Brett developed a pleasant personality, described by his mother as, “quiet, sweet, gentle, and unassuming.” His family gave Brett as many opportunities as possible. In 2000 he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, he enjoyed vacations at the beach and in the mountains, and took part in activities such as local concerts, plays, and hiking trails. Brett spent his high school years at a special needs school, where he flourished both academically and socially. He especially enjoyed playing on the school’s basketball and softball teams, he explored his creativity in wood shop, and he even had a role in the school production of Fiddler on the Roof. He was always up for fun activities.

Brett graduated high school in 2007 and entered the Graduate Transition Program, a 2-year program for young adults with developmental disabilities, at Montgomery College.

In addition, Montgomery County’s Customized Employment Program placed Brett in a 2-year part-time administrative assistant position in the Executive Office Building in Rockville.This employment experience led to a permanent full-time position as an administrative assistant at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in the sprawling Parklawn building. He was very well-liked by his managers and coworkers, and as time passed they recognized his strengths and capabilities. He loved office parties and the way the festivities broke up the workday with a slice of cake.

In addition to work he participated in five organizations that catered to adults with disabilities. Each of these groups provided fun social activities, and included some attendees that Brett had known for years from school. He enjoyed the groups and was well-liked, remaining active with basketball, bowling, and social groups.When relaxing at home, Brett enjoyed watching football, basketball, and baseball on TV. He knew all the statistics of every player on every team.

With his increasing independence, Brett moved into a small condo close to the White Flint Metro station. The HOA held activities for its residents, so Brett found fun and connection there as well.

His life came to an abrupt halt on January 16, 2020, when Brett was on his way to attending the monthly dinner hosted by Jewish Vocational Services. He took the bus from his condo to the International House of Pancakes on Rockville Pike. He got off the bus at the bus stop directly across the street from IHoP. It was a long walk on a cold night to reach the crosswalk at the nearest traffic light, so Brett did what so many people do and headed straight across the street. Brett did not make it. An oncoming car hit him with a fatal impact. Brett was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mindy and Joe got a call from one of the counselors at the dinner, that Brett did not make it to the dinner, and a pedestrian had been hit on the street just outside. At this point no one involved knew that the pedestrian was Brett. Mindy and Joe learned that the pedestrian had died at the scene. They tried getting information by calling 311, calling their nephew (who was an MC police officer), and going to the Olney police substation. No one was authorized to give any information. It was 11:30 pm when a police officer came to their door with the devastating news.

The funeral took place four days later, on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. There were about 400 people in attendance.

Mindy is keenly aware of and frustrated by local traffic reports, “Too many pedestrians and bicyclists are dying on our roadways.” She observes that roads built in the 1950s don’t have the infrastructure to shield cyclists and pedestrians from harm. She wonders about the effectiveness of current efforts to make our roads safer, “I know they’re trying,” she concedes.

Brett would still be alive if there had been a protected crosswalk located at the bus stop. She notes that there are many mid-block bus stops on busy roads with no protected way of crossing the street.

In recent years, legislators are taking notice of the large number of fatalities on Maryland roadways. New legislation, such as the Stop Super-Speeders Law and the Vulnerable Road Users Act, are expected to save lives. However, more efforts, more legislation, and more attentive driving, are desperately needed to keep our precious children and all our citizens safe on our roadways.