You start with the families of the two 14-year-old Roslyn Middle School boys killed in Jericho last week by a pick-up truck allegedly driven by a drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the road.

Their grief and loss is unimaginable. Very few can fathom what they are going through. There are no words to describe it.

The pain grows with the boys’ age, 14. Mere children, full of innocence and life’s promise.

And it expands further by what the two boys had already accomplished at such a young age.

Both boys, Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, were members of a Roslyn High School tennis team that had won the Nassau County big school championship in 2022.

They were on their way back from a celebratory dinner with their tennis team along with Roslyn High School students Zach Sheena and Ethan Solop when their car was struck.

Falkowitz’s father, Gary, remembered his son as a uniquely caring boy who was confident and determined to achieve anything he set his mind to. He had a thirst for knowledge and was musically and athletically skilled.

Hassenbein was a tennis prodigy who at age 12 stood at center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens to perform the ceremonial coin toss before the Men’s U.S. Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.

At the time, he was the No. 1 ranked player in the country in the Boys 12 and Under Division.

Some of the nation’s top college programs, including Duke, Michigan and Harvard, were already recruiting him as an eighth grader in Roslyn Middle School.

He was also described as funny, sweet and thoughtful by his family at his funeral. He loved good food, the Mets, basketball and fantasy football. His sister said he even retained an attachment to four stuffed animals.

The age of the two boys, their talent, their personalities and their involvement in a tennis fraternity help explain the outpouring of grief expressed by families, friends, classmates, school officials, elected officials and the summer camps the boys attended.

This could be seen at the funerals for the boys at two Roslyn temples this weekend, overflowing with mourners bidding farewell to the two.

“We are experiencing unimaginable grief,” said Roslyn Board of Education President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy. “Our community was destroyed. These were beautiful people, beautiful babies.”

The strong feelings after the death of the two boys can also be seen in the Roslyn community’s demand for justice.

The driver of the pickup truck, Amandeep Singh, 34, a Roslyn resident, was arrested after attempting to flee the “horrific” crash site, which left a debris field exceeding the size of a football field, according to Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad,

Singh had a blood alcohol content of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to charging documents.

“It was probably one of the most catastrophic scenes I have seen in a long time,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that the debris field was so extensive that it was “almost like the car exploded.”

Singh was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts each of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality and driving while intoxicated.

He was remanded without bail by District Court Judge Joseph Nocella Thursday, which led to applause from more than 150 members of the Roslyn community in attendance. Hundreds more people attended a hearing for Singh Monday morning to oppose bail, which was not offered.

Nocella said Singh’s prior criminal history, which includes a youthful offender conviction for driving while intoxicated combined with the strength of the case against him, makes him a flight risk. He suspended Singh’s license and put him in protective custody.

Prosecutors said Singh also had a youthful offender conviction for gang assault and was twice subject to removal from the country.

James Kousouros, Singh’s Manhattan-based defense attorney, said his client’s criminal history dates back to 2006 but that Singh is currently a U.S. citizen, a business owner and a graduate of New York University.

“He has very strong ties to his community,” Kousouros argued, noting the presence of Singh’s wife and two young children in the courtroom Thursday. “Obviously this is an unmitigated tragedy.”

Singh’s fate is now in the hands of the court system.

What is even worse about this crash is that it is not even that rare.

“Every day, about 32 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths,” according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

This is shocking. As is the toll alcohol takes in general.

Alcohol contributes to approximately 18.5% of emergency department visits and 22.1% of overdose deaths related to prescription opioids, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The NIH said that more than 140,000 people (approximately 97,000 men and 43,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the fourth-leading preventable cause of death in the United States behind tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity, and illegal drugs.

We know that government regulations have made cars far safer in recent years with improved design, padded dashboards, seat belts and air bags.

We also know that groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have increased awareness of the threat of drunk driving and succeeded in getting stronger laws passed.

MADD’s success can in part explain how guns have become the No. 1 cause of death among children – as well as the increase in gun deaths brought on by a proliferation of guns and the loosening of laws regulating their use.

But that has not been enough to reach MADD’s goal of “No More Victims.”

The dangers of alcohol are overlooked as a threat, especially in comparison with illegal drugs. That needs to change.

We are never going to ban alcohol. That was tried and failed on a colossal level in the 1920s. But that doesn’t mean nothing can be done.

Singh’s blood-alcohol level also raises the question of whether others bear some responsibility for this crash.

Just where did he ingest enough alcohol to show a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit? A bar? A restaurant? A friend’s home?

The law holds people accountable who allow drivers to get behind the wheel in Singh’s condition.

This does nothing to bring back the two Roslyn boys who were so senselessly lost last week. But perhaps it gives a positive way to channel the immeasurable grief the boys’ deaths generated.

The Talmud, the Jewish book of law, says that “Whoever saves a single life is considered by scripture to have saved the whole world.”

We have now been reminded what it’s like to lose a single life, twice.