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20th Anniversary
MADD has worked tirelessly to
change attitudes, save lives.
When the leaders of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving (MADD) gather on the West Front
terrace of the U. S. Capitol Building this week to observe their 20th anniversary, we should join them — at least in spirit — in celebration of what they have accomplished.
Over MADD 800 activists will participate in the five day observance, which begins on Wednesday, Sept. 6. They will be joined by supporters Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tx.).
Nearly everyone, it seems, has been touched by the tragedy brought on by drunk driving; that is certainly true here in Rappahannock County, where several young lives have been ended because of the irresponsible actions of impaired drivers. It has been the courage of those who have felt this unnecessary loss that has driven the Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
Since the movement began in 1980, it is estimated that there has been a 40 percent drop in drunk driving deaths — a saving of 183,000 lives, if the trend had not been challenged.
And the way the public, law enforcement and the courts look at drunk driving offenders has been changed greatly, as well. Part of the program will be the release of a new Gallup Poll indicating the new public attitude toward the offense of driving drunk.
As they begin their third decade, MADD has an ambitious agenda, which includes getting the U.S. Congress to adopt a national blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent as the national uniform drunk driving limit and unveiling a plan to reduce alcoholrelated deaths to no more than 11,000 by the year 2005.
As a silent reminder, a victim ' Wall of Remembrance" over 115 feet long bearing the photographs of hundreds of those who have lost their lives to drunk drivers will be erected during the conference. It will provide a powerful statement that few will be able to ignore,
MADD has accomplished what few would have thought possible 20 years ago. We are grateful that they took this initiative, proving that those they have lost did not die in vain.
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