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drunk_driving.docxHudson 1
Bailee Hudson
Instructor Cronk-Raby
ENC-1101-04M
23 March 2014
M.A.D.D.
Drunk driving refers to driving under the influence of alcohol. It is a crime committed when one drives a motor with alcohol of an excess limit in the blood. This issue has been one of the major causes of road accidents in the world today. Yearly, the rate of drunk driving has been reportedly increasing with an assumption of one dead at the rate of 51 minutes and one injured in one minute. Such issues have led to the formation of various organizations which have sought to stop drunk driving in the society. In 2012 alone, the cases of deaths were 10,322 people and the injured were 345,000 which were due to drunken driving (Overbey, 2010). This paper will discuss one of the organizations which is Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the reasons of its formation.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is an organization in the US that seeks to stop drunk driving and it is a nonprofit organization. This organization was founded by Candy Lightner in 1980. It also supports the victims of drunk driving, prevents drinking of underage individuals and also pushes for strict alcohol policies in the United States. It is funded by corporate gifts, grants from government, personal contributions and donations, foundations, promotions, licenses and restricted funds. Support from the public and the government is from the witnessed successful progress made by the organization (Robin, 1991).
The organization was founded by candy after her 13 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. The driver hit the girl and drove off and left the girl’s body helpless at the scene. The incident saddened her mother who decided to start up the organization with the aim of stopping drunk driving in California and the entire state. This is the main event that took place and triggered the start of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980. MADD Canada was however founded in the year 1990.
Other events that led to the formation of the organization include too much accidents that claimed lives of people and the rise of the under aged alcoholisms. MADD has more than 600 action teams in all the American states and comprises of more than 3 million supporters and members worldwide. The organization is foremost in the fight against drunk driving in the United States and headed by 26 national boards of directors.
MADD worked hard to ensure that critical education which is based on drunk driving was passed in 1980s. The efforts which included hard penalties and great enforcement led to decrease of related accidents in that year. The decrease was reported to be nearly 50 percent as reported by MADD which made drunk driving unacceptable in the state. The organization’s campaign against drunk driving involves three crucial steps which are: supporting the heroes, sobering to start and lastly securing the future. The campaign has borne fruits since there has been decrease in the number and cases of drunk driving today (Overbey, 2010).
MADD has been successful in all their activities and even saw their 2000 goal successful in 1997 which was to lessen the alcoholic associated deaths by 20 percent. Their campaigns changed attitudes of many people on drunk driving and gave good fruits for the organization. An accident in 1988 which involved a school bus and a drunk driver driving the wrong way in Kentucky drove many parents in joining MADD. The head on collision accident resulted into twenty seven deaths and more injured. Another accident in the same town had occurred in 1958 which was rated to be the deadliest in the US history and made many people join the organization making one of the victims the president (Robin, 1991).
MADD has ensured that the federal law in the United States on lawful level of intoxication dropped to 0.08% BAC, which is the blood alcohol content. Today, more than 15 states have embraced the change of the blood alcohol content as a legal law. The research conducted revealed that this change would reduce more than 500 lives which are lost yearly due to drunk driving as well as the countless injuries. The organization promotes utilization of victim impact panels whereby the judges need the offenders to listen to victims of cases of drunk driving or even their relatives.
However, MADD started to outgrow its mission in 1999 where they focused on all issues of consumption of alcohol in the society which includes under aged drinking. They worked to ensure that children stopped early drinking of alcohol in the state. The organization supports high taxes on beverages, roadblocks for frightening people and drinking arrests in the twenty first century. It also started the drinking and drives campaign which was not one of the main goals when the organization was founded. Their general goal currently is to fight alcoholism which still involves the issues of drunk driving.
Works Cited
Overbey, C. (2010). Drinking and driving war in America. Lexington, Ky: Lulu.
Robin, G. D. (1991). Waging the battle against drunk driving: Issues, countermeasures, and effectiveness. New York: Greenwood Press.
