Mothers Against Drunk Driving Every Child Deserves A DesigNated Driver
Protecting children is a value Americans cherish. Yet, despite the fact drunk driving is a violent crime, driving while impaired with children riding in a vehicle is not a commonly acknowledged form of child endangerment or child abuse. No one should have to choose to ride with an impaired driver. However, minor children have little choice when the driver is a parent or other adult who is their caregiver. Child endangerment laws protect innocent children from child abusers, not only those who are physically or emotionally abusive, but those who victimize a child by driving impaired. An impaired driver makes the choice to drink and drive. Minor children often have no choice as to whether or not they ride with an impaired driver. Caregivers that drink and drive with children in the vehicle are child abusers in their own right and account for the majority of drunk driving fatalities among children. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) twice convened a panel of experts in the nation’s capital to develop practical policy solutions to one of the nation’s most pressing child endangerment problems: children riding in vehicles with impaired drivers. The Child Endangerment Expert Panel, supported by a grant awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, consisted of child and victim advocates, attorneys, judges, law enforcement officials, policy specialists and a bereaved parent victim of child endangerment. The panel of experts offered specific knowledge and expertise and helped to identify possible solutions. Examination of the issues surrounding child endangerment was conducted by eliciting input from each panel member on their area of expertise. Issues were examined from research, advocacy, law enforcement, judicial, prosecutorial and civil family law and victim perspectives. MADD’s Child Endangerment Report is based on recommendations of this expert panel. The report will be distributed to MADD state offices and chapters, state law enforcement agencies, Governor’s Highway Safety Offices, court personnel and key child protective agencies. It contains helpful guidelines and measures that will inform parents, child advocates, medical personnel, law enforcement officials, victim advocates, policymakers and the general public on how to provide greater protection of children from impaired drivers. This report illustrates the heartache that public awareness, training, education and effective child endangerment laws can prevent. A video documentary of a child endangerment case produced by the Wyoming Department of Public Safety is included with the report. The video tells the true story of the death of a State Highway Patrol Officer’s five-year-old daughter whom his intoxicated ex-wife killed while driving with a BAC of .22 percent.
page 1
Made with FlippingBook Online document