WASHINGTON, D.C. & DALLAS (August 14, 2008)– Thousands of enforcement agencies will conduct sobriety checkpoints and saturation patrols starting tomorrow, August 15 as Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest. kicks off nationwide. Given today’s news of slight declines in drunk driving fatalities from 13,470 in 2006 to 12,998 in 2007, the enforcement continues to build on this positive momentum in hopes of saving more lives and preventing more injuries through Labor Day. The enforcement crackdown includes national TV and radio advertising and publicity to warn motorists that if they drive drunk, they will be arrested.

The crackdown is a high-visibility enforcement effort led by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in coordination with the Governors Highway Safety Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police and MADD and runs throughout August and the Labor Day holiday weekend, a heavy travel time and period of increased drunk driving fatalities and injuries.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) numbers issued today, there was a 3.7 percent decrease in drunk driving traffic fatalities from 2006. While state-by-state drunk driving fatality numbers are not yet available, Arizona and New Mexico, the only two states that required interlocks for all drunk driving offenders at some point in 2007, had overall decreases in fatalities of 18 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Laura Dean-Mooney, MADD national president, said, “This is good news today but we must continue to eliminate drunk driving because each death represents a person’s loved one. We need the public to support the enforcement crackdown on drunk driving, support the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving and to designate a sober driver before drinking ever begins.” In November 1991, Mike Dean – Laura’s husband and father to her then 8-month-old-daughter – died on a Texas highway in a drunk driving crash caused by an offender who had a blood alcohol concentration of .34, more than four times the illegal drunk driving level. “While economic trends may fluctuate, there is no denying the power to eliminate drunk driving through increased enforcement and interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, this will continue to help bring the numbers down even further over time.”

MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving includes support for high visibility enforcement – highly publicized, highly visible and frequent sobriety checkpoints reduce alcohol-related crashes and fatalities by up to 24 percent (Transportation and Research Board 2005) and the passage of interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers. Eight states have mandated interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers (New Mexico (2005); Arizona, Louisiana, Illinois, Washington, Colorado, Nebraska, and Alaska.) Six states mandate for those at .15 blood alcohol concentration or higher. Thirty three of the 36 remaining states have discretionary laws, which are proven ineffective because they are rarely used. The other three have no interlock law – a big problem in those states.

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