DALLAS (July 3, 2009)– MADD is very pleased that new fatality data from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) shows that drunk driving fatalities declined 9.7% with 11,773 in 2008 and 13,041 deaths in 2007. According to DOT, “the number of overall traffic fatalities reported in 2008 hit their lowest level since 1961 with 37,261 deaths and that fatalities in the first three months of 2009 continue to decrease. The fatality rate, which accounts for variables like fewer miles traveled, also reached the lowest level ever recorded.

Two of the best states for drunk driving fatality reductions were New Mexico and Arizona with 20 and 21% drops respectively.  Both states have all offender ignition interlock laws and are now performing better than the national average.  The state-by-state fatality numbers are available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811172.pdf MADD National President, Laura Dean-Mooney, said, “The recession has had a major impact on these numbers. As the economy rebounds these gains could be erased unless we have strong laws, strong funding and strong enforcement as called for in MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. As a nation, we have the level of drunk driving that we chose to have. 

Texas has chosen to be the worst in the country with the largest number of fatalities by far and continues to lag behind the rest of the nation. “The influence of defense attorneys, segments of the alcohol industry and lack of leadership from the legislature and other elected officials keeps Texas in a drunk driving tolerant mode.” In November 1991, Mike Dean--Laura’s husband and father to their 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 and no prior DWI convictions.

Nationally, MADD thanks Members of Congress for including major provisions of the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving in the House Committee version of the next highway reauthorization bill.  “We applaud House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Jim Oberstar and Ranking Member John Mica as well as Highways and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio and Ranking Member Jim Duncan as they introduced legislation that includes bold initiatives that will have a dramatic impact on highway safety in America,” said Dean-Mooney. 

According to a 2009 Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation report issued recently alcohol-related traffic crashes cost Americans nearly $130 billion dollars. MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving includes support for high visibility enforcement—highly publicized, highly visible and frequent sobriety checkpoints, ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, development of advanced technologies that would not interfere with the general public but rather stop only those driving drunk (.08+ BAC), as well as grassroots support for all of the above. Eleven states now call for ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers.