MADDSWFLnews FEBRUARY 2018

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MY FIRST VICTIM IMPACT PANEL

WRITTEN BY SYDNEY VITALE, MADD INTERN & FGCU STUDENT

Recently, I attended a Victim Impact Panel, and it was an expe- rience that I will never forget. I drove to the courthouse won- dering what I was about to experience and how the people there were going to react to tonight’s event. When we arrived at the courthouse there were dozens of people standing outside the courtroom doors waiting for the panel to begin. When the courtroom doors opened everyone flooded inside. I followed along towards the end with the guest speakers and members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office. We sat at the front of the room, facing the attendees. I couldn’t help but to look into the sea of people and just watch what they were doing when our first speaker stood up. Many seemed to be interested in all that she was saying while others rolled their eyes and stared at the ceiling trying their best to not participate. When our first victim/survivor spoke everyone in the room laid eyes on him. His story was very personal and many were happy he shared what had happened. The next speaker was an offend- er. He had hoped that him speaking tonight he could share what would happen to everyone in the room if they continued with their actions. It seemed to work, many people asked him questions, and they also felt more connected to him since they were DUI offenders too. Continued on page 3

In This Issue

 Ignition Interlocks

 Victim Impact Panel

 2018 Events Calendar

 2018 By The Numbers

THIS LETTER WAS SENT LOCALLY TO ONLINE AND PRINT NEWSPAPERS IN CONJUCTION WITH LOBBYING EFFORTS IN TALLAHASSE.

Dear Editor,

Statute 316.656’s new amendment would seek to improve upon previously established laws concerning the handling of drunk driving [DUI] offenders. The new law would grant first time DUI offenders the opportunity to elect to install an ignition interlock device for a minimum of six months. An offender who chooses to do so will have their first offense withheld from their record. At the average low cost of $2.50 a day, the trade-off between installing an ignition interlock device or only suspending an offender’s driver’s license is statistically significant. An estimated 50-70% of drunk driving offenders will continue to drive on a suspended li- cense. Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants to separate drinking from driving and help all community members understand the dangers of combining the two. Currently, Florida law dictates that ignition interlock devices are mandatory for anyone with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .15 or more. The legal limit is .08 BAC. Since adopting interlock devices for offenders who are have a BAC of .15 just 11 years ago, Florida has man- aged to thwart over 75,000 attempts of convicted DUI offenders reoffending and driving drunk. So far 30 states have adopted All-Offender Interlock laws. Recently, Mothers Against Drunk Driving released our 2018 Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving Report to the nation. Florida received 2.5 stars out of 5, mainly due to our current ignition interlock law, and ranked 14 th in the nation for drunk driving traffic fatalities. One outlying issue concerning ignition interlock devices is the likelihood of circumventing the system. It was found that many offenders would either drive in a car without the system in place, or even have a sober passenger blow in the system. While no system is ever foolproof, anti-circumvention technology has made large strides in recent years. With the advent of GPS tracking and facial recognition, offenders are finding it harder and harder to get around the system. While it is not the end all solution to drunk driving, interlocking devices are a step in the right direction. The American Automobile Association, Centers for Disease Control, National Trans- portation Board, and the National Safety Council are all in favor of ignition interlock devices for every DUI offender.

Please contact your local Senator and Representative to ask them to vote in favor of the amendment to Statute 316.656. Our community’s safety depends on it.

Lori Burke, Program Director, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Southwest Florida

MY FIRST VICTIM IMPACT PANEL cont.

Towards the end of the night, you could see people starting to get restless and on the edge of their seat, as if they were back in high school waiting for the bell to ring for them to start their weekend. When it was finally time for them to leave many of them stayed back to talk to the Sheriff’s Deputy and the MADD Director about tonight.

MADD SWFL: Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades

BY THE NUMBERS MADD SWFL

2018 OUTREACH

JANUARY

0 Law Enforcement and Community Recognition Event

0 Law enforcement officers provided MADD- sponsored training

2018

23 Officers supported at sobriety checkpoints & wolfpacks

February: Ignition Interlock Lobbying in Tallahassee

April: Walk Like MADD & Movie Night in Naples

April: PowerTalk 21—Parents Start the Conversation

May: Local LEO Super Hero Celebration and Family Day

63 Law enforcement/ community recognition nominations

August: State Law Enforcement Recognition Event

September: Walk Like MADD SWFL

October: Power of You(th) Blitz

November: Tie One On For Safety Launch

0 Walk Like MADD & 5K DASH attendees

December: A Tribute Event

Every Month: Grief Groups, Prevention Presentations, Victim Impact Panels in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties, MADD Advisory Board Meetings & Volunteer Orienta-

0 Tie One On For Safety Ribbons Displayed

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91 Offenders educated

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808 Speakers Bureau at- tendees

southwest.fl@madd.org

1,221 Parents & youth educat- ed

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MADD SWFL #NoMoreVictims

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