Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving
MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, the organization’s blueprint to create a nation of No More Victims, celebrated its 12 th year in 2018. Since the campaign was launched, drunk driving deaths have decreased by 22 percent.
The campaign is focused on four priorities:
Support for high-visibility law enforcement. MADD recognizes that law enforcement is the first line of defense, and stands with law enforcement heroes who are on road patrol and at sobriety checkpoints as they put their own safety on the line to protect the public. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaigns provide critical resources to police departments, and MADD shows its support by strongly advocating for and participating in these efforts. In 2018, MADD attended 233 sobriety checkpoints, 432 roll call briefings, held 62 Law Enforcement Recognition events and honored 3,621 officers. MADD also convened a Law Enforcement Summit in December, bringing together the nation’s top leadership in law enforcement to discuss ways to make traffic enforcement a national priority. Ignition interlocks for all offenders. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving has experienced tremendous success in getting laws passed to require ignition interlocks for all drunk drivers. When the campaign began in 2006, only New Mexico required interlocks for all offenders. By the end of 2018, 32 states had enacted all-offender ignition interlock laws. Iowa and Idaho passed their laws in 2018. MADD also evaluates the effectiveness of existing laws and works to ensure they are working, and defends against efforts to weaken them. In 2018, MADD helped to defeat efforts to weaken interlock laws in: Wyoming, Connecticut, Kansas, Virginia and West Virginia, and succeeded in making improvements to the interlock law in Alabama. In addition, MADD helped stop an effort to ban sobriety checkpoints in New Hampshire. Advanced vehicle technology. Passive, alcohol detection in new cars has been under development for the past decade. MADD is working with legislators, federal agencies and the auto industry to support the deployment of this technology as soon as possible. One of those programs, the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), began testing in cars on Virginia roads in 2018 and is expected to be marketed commercially in the early 2020s. In addition to passive alcohol detection in cars, the eventual deployment of fully autonomous vehicles holds the promise of eliminating drunk driving in the future. Taking personal responsibility to always designate a non-drinking driver . MADD made “designated driver” a household name in the 1980s. Today it is used to mean a non-drinking friend or family member, public transportation, rideshare app or taxi. MADD’s message is clear: For every decision to consume alcohol, there must be a coinciding decision to take personal responsibility for finding a safe and sober ride home.
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